E.U., U.S. and 20 other countries condemn Taliban over killing or disappearance of Former National Security Forces
The European Union (E.U), United States (U.S.) and 20 other countries have condemned the terror-outfit Taliban over allegations of summary killings of former police and intelligence officers in Afghanistan.
The statement came after Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report on the killing or disappearance of at least 47 members of the Afghan National Security Forces.
These countries said they were deeply concerned by the allegations and underlined that the alleged act constitutes serious human rights abuses and contradict the Taliban’s announced amnesty for former Afghan officials. These countries included France, Germany, United Kingdom (U.K.), Canada, Australia, Japan and Ukraine. As a matter of fact, no country has recognized Taliban.
In its report, HRW said Taliban directed the surrendering security forces to register with authorities in order to be screened for ties to certain military or special forces units, and to receive a letter guaranteeing their safety. But Taliban used these screenings to detain and summarily execute or forcibly disappear individuals.
Trouble started when Taliban seized power on August 15, 2021, after taking over the capital city of Kabul. Taliban is eyeing international recognition and has pledged that its rule will be different than that of 1990s which public stonings, limb amputations of alleged criminals and a ban on women’s education. However, the United Nations (U.N.) has said that Taliban continues to carry out violent punishments to those who oppose it.
As per HRW, Taliban killed or forcibly disappeared more than 100 former members of the Afghan security forces in the provinces of Ghazni, Helmand, Kunduz and Kandahar.
A statement from HRW read, “The Taliban’s unsupported claims that they will act to prevent abuses and hold abusers to account appears, so far, to be nothing more than a public relations stunt.”
Taliban has denied all the accusations and has formed a commission to purge “people of bad character” from their ranks. In an audio recording, the Deputy Chief of Taliban and Afghan Interior Minister – Sirajuddin Haqqani appealed to group to cooperate with the commission and don’t protect or support any individual of bad character on the basis of personal friendship.
Earlier, the U.S. held talks with Taliban representatives in Qatar and expressed deep concern over human rights abuses and urged the group to provide countrywide access to education at all levels for women and girls. Subsequently, Taliban released a decree on women’s rights saying women should not be considered “property” and must not be forced into marriage.
