The United Nations on Tuesday accused the Taliban of being responsible for at least 72 extrajudicial executions since August, despite their promise of general amnesty, which the parties deny en bloc.
Between August and November, the UN received “credible allegations of more than 100 executions of former members of the Afghan national security forces and others associated with the former government, of which at least 72 have been attributed to the Taliban, ”Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
“I am alarmed by the persistent reports of extrajudicial executions across the country, despite the general amnesty announced by the Taliban after August 15,” she added.
“In the province of Nangarhar alone,” continued Mr.me Al-Nashif, “at least 50 extrajudicial killings of persons suspected of being members of the EI-K group [la branche afghane du groupe État islamique] appear to have been committed. “
The United States and its Western allies have already expressed “concern” over these executions, exposed by human rights organizations, and have called for swift investigations.
“Tried and punished”
After Ms. Al-Nashif’s statements, the Taliban government again rejected the accusations, which have been circulating for months in the country, but remain very difficult to prove. “Unfounded rumors should not be taken for granted,” the spokesman for the Taliban Foreign Ministry Abdul Qahar Balkhi told AFP on Tuesday afternoon.
The Taliban “fully respect the amnesty decree, and employees of previous governments are not persecuted,” he added, assuring that there will be investigations into every suspected case and that any Taliban guilty of violating the amnesty will be “tried and punished”.
Unfounded rumors shouldn’t be taken at face value
Today’s Taliban leaders, seeking financial support and international respectability, have repeatedly promised that their regime would be different from that of the late 1990s.