Report of the Afghanistan Human Rights Council on human rights violations in Afghanistan in the last two weeks
Report: Maharam Ali Alamian
The Afghanistan Human Rights Council, in its weekly report, addressed the most important cases of human rights violations in Afghanistan and presented astonishing statistics of targeted human rights violations.
In the past week, Afghanistan was once again the scene of painful events and systematic violations of fundamental human rights. These incidents, ranging from deadly border violence to organized repression in cities, provide a clear picture of the continuation of a governance based on force, exclusion, and the complete disregard for human dignity and international norms. The following report, with an analytical look at the most important events of the past week, examines the various dimensions of this human rights crisis.
1. Violation of the Right to Life and Security: A Daily Tragedy
The right to life, the most fundamental right of every human being, is continuously and tragically violated in Afghanistan today. Border clashes in the eastern regions between the Taliban and Pakistan led to a humanitarian catastrophe in which at least 50 people were killed and 453 injured. Given the emphasis by local sources on the civilian nature of the majority of victims, this incident is a clear example of the violation of international humanitarian law, which emphasizes the protection of civilians in armed conflicts. These casualties are not an accident, but a direct result of defenseless citizens being caught in the crossfire of conflicts that show no regard for their lives.
Insecurity and violence take many forms. In Helmand province, the killing of one person and the injury of three others following a dispute over the appointment of a mosque imam shows how local and ethnic conflicts can quickly turn into deadly violence. Similarly, targeted killings continue: the killing of a Mullah (mosque imam) by unknown individuals in Kandahar and the murder of a former army soldier in Parwan province have created an atmosphere of terror and physical elimination in society, where no citizen, regardless of background or position, feels safe. These mysterious killings indicate a complete lack of judicial security and the inability (or unwillingness) of the government to protect the lives of its citizens.
Deaths from traffic accidents also show another layer of this disregard for the right to life. Deadly incidents in Samangan (3 killed), Balkh (death of Haroon Sakhizadeh), and Badakhshan (4 killed and 8 injured) are not just grim statistics; they often stem from a lack of safe infrastructure, non-enforcement of traffic laws, and a shortage of immediate emergency services, which themselves result from mismanagement and the government's neglect of basic public services. Also, the death of two couples due to gas poisoning in Ghazni reveals the lack of safety standards in daily life and insufficient public education.
2. Systematic Repression of Women and Violation of the Right to Education: The Cornerstone of Taliban Policy
If a main axis for human rights violations by the Taliban can be identified, it is the comprehensive policy of repression against women and girls. In the past week, this policy continued in various forms. The arrest of a school principal and a teacher, along with the director of an English language institute in Ghazni, merely for the "presence of girls," is a symbolic act. This act involves multiple layers of rights violations: firstly, it criminalizes the right to education for girls, which had previously been widely violated by the closure of secondary schools and universities, even in small private settings. Secondly, by targeting educators and administrators, it violates their right to employment and freedom of professional activity, sending a terrifying message to all activists in the field of education that even basic education is taboo. This action is a clear example of "educational persecution," which was cited as a crime against humanity in the judgment of the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal against the Taliban.
At the same time, the flogging of 48 people, including 4 women, in seven different provinces, is a brutal display of humiliating, inhumane punishments that violate the International Bill of Human Rights. The public execution of such punishments not only violates the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, but also serves as a tool for public intimidation and the imposition of ideological norms through physical and psychological violence. The presence of women among those flogged emphasizes the gendered aspect of this repression.
3. Institutionalization of Discrimination and Exclusion: Administrative and Judicial Purge
Human rights violations in Afghanistan are not limited to physical violence but are also institutionalized through administrative and structural policies. The widespread elimination of hundreds of positions from education directorates in the provinces is an administrative purge with probable ideological and ethnic motives.This action could lead to the dismissal of experienced staff, their replacement with individuals loyal to a specific ideology, and ultimately, the complete redirection of the educational system towards an isolated and restrictive system. This violates the right to work without discrimination and the right to participate in public affairs, injecting further instability into the already damaged body of the country's education.
4. Governance based on terror: Absence of fair trial and rule of law
Public flogging is a clear symbol of the absence of a fair trial. These punishments are generally issued after swift "trials" without the presence of a defense lawyer, without adhering to standards of evidence, and in courts that lack judicial independence. This issue, along with arbitrary arrests (such as in Ghazni cases) that occur outside legal frameworks, completely destroys the concept of the rule of law and replaces it with governance based on terror and the command of local officials.
5. International condemnation and growing isolation: The Hague People's Tribunal ruling
The condemnation of the Taliban by The Hague People's Tribunal for "crimes against humanity and sexual persecution of women," although lacking official judicial enforcement, holds high moral and legal credibility. This ruling reflects accumulated testimonies and documents from across Afghanistan and places the Taliban's policies in the position of a gender apartheid regime. This condemnation shows that the Taliban's actions are recognized and exposed globally as a flagrant and systematic violation of human rights.
In conclusion
The events of one week in Afghanistan are interconnected links in a chain of comprehensive repression. From the eastern borders to the provincial centers, Afghan citizens are deprived of the right to life, security, education, fair work, immunity from torture, and the right to a fair trial. Women and girls, as a gender, are the primary and planned target of this repression. What appears in weekly reports is not scattered incidents, but the daily manifestation of a governance policy based on discrimination, exclusion, and intimidation. Silence or normalization of these conditions is a betrayal of the people of Afghanistan and a violation of the international community's commitments. Continuous and coordinated pressure for the immediate reopening of all schools and universities to girls, the complete cessation of flogging, executions, and other inhumane treatments, an end to arbitrary arrests, and the formation of an inclusive and accountable government must be at the forefront of international diplomacy. Furthermore, support for human rights documentation institutions and the continuation of international judicial processes is essential. Afghanistan is under the shadow of an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe, and the world should not close its eyes to it.