Amnesty International: Taliban Intensify Repression of Women and Human Rights Violations

Photo: AFP / Getty Images via DW

Amnesty International, at the 60th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, warned that the Taliban’s repression of women and violations of human rights have intensified, stressing the need for an independent international mechanism to investigate and hold the group accountable.

The organization, in a statement on Tuesday (September 9), said that the Taliban are arresting, torturing, and disappearing their critics. The statement also noted that religious and ethnic minorities have been targeted by the Taliban, including 50 Ismaili men in Badakhshan who were forced to convert their religion.

According to Amnesty International, former military personnel and journalists returning from neighboring countries are also facing direct threats from the Taliban. The organization emphasized that only an independent international mechanism can investigate and document the widespread human rights violations in Afghanistan.

Previously, Richard Bennett, the UN Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan, had also called for the creation of such a mechanism.

Human rights activists say continued silence in the face of the systematic violations of the rights of women, minorities, and critics in Afghanistan amounts to legitimizing the Taliban’s repression.