UN officials slam Taliban for attacks on protests and alleged retaliatory killings

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A United Nations human rights official on Friday warned the Taliban to immediately stop using force against peaceful protesters in Afghanistan, after weeks of violent attacks on protesters across the country by its fighters, including gunfire presumed fatalities.

Over the past four weeks, protesters in various Afghan provinces have faced an increasingly violent response from the Taliban, including the use of live ammunition, batons and whips, official Ravina Shamdasani said. – speech of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. during a press briefing in Geneva, according to a transcript of his remarks.

We call on the Taliban to immediately end the use of force and arbitrary detention of those exercising their right to peaceful assembly and of journalists covering the protests, she said.

His comments added to the increasingly grim picture of the Taliban regime in the weeks following the rise to power of the militant Islamist group, after initial pledges to govern inclusively and respect press freedoms and rights. womens rights. An interim government appointed by the Taliban this week is made up entirely of Taliban members, contains no women and is eliminating the ministry responsible for ensuring the opportunities and rights of women and girls.

A Taliban spokesman, defending the appointments, said they were the result of discussions held across the country.

As he named the interim government, the Taliban’s harsh handling of protests was fully exposed earlier this week in the capital Kabul, where activists and journalists said they were attacked by Taliban fighters escorting marches. Among those beaten were two journalists who work for Etilaatroz, an Afghan newspaper, the outlet said on Twitter. Photos shared on social media showed their backs covered in red and purple blues.

The Taliban should seek to understand the legitimate grievances of these many Afghans who fear for their future, Deborah Lyons, the UN secretary-general’s envoy to Afghanistan, said in a Security Council briefing on Thursday, referring to the attacks on protesters.

Lyons also said there were credible allegations that retaliatory killings were carried out against members of the former government security forces, despite the Taliban’s promises of amnesty for soldiers and government officials. We received reports that members of the Taliban were conducting house-to-house searches and seizing property, especially in Kabul, she said.

Lyons added that she was increasingly concerned about a growing number of incidents of harassment and intimidation targeting Afghan members of UN personnel. The UN cannot carry out its work which is so essential to the Afghan people if its staff are subjected to intimidation, fear for their lives and cannot move freely, she said.

Thousands of people, including US citizens, have tried to leave Afghanistan since the end of the US military airlift on August 31, but the flow has been limited.

A second civilian airliner left Kabul on Friday evening for Qatar, carrying U.S. and foreign passport holders, according to a Qatari official briefed on the details. The first civilian flight on Thursday carried 10 U.S. citizens and 11 green card holders, according to the State Department. It was not immediately clear how many of the 158 passengers on Qatar Airways’ Friday flight were US citizens. Those departing also included French, Dutch, British, Belgian and Mauritanian nationals, and at least some of the passengers were transported to the airport in a Qatari convoy, according to the official, who requested anonymity to discuss the logistics.

Members of the Taliban are at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 31, 2021 (Saifurahman Safi, Xinhua via ZUMA Press / TNS)

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