A human rights organization, known as Rawadari, has released a report on the human rights situation in Afghanistan during the year 2023. The findings of this organization indicate that the human rights situation has deteriorated in various dimensions. The report states that targeted killings, mysterious massacres, and extrajudicial revenge attacks against former government employees and their families, protesting women, human rights defenders, and other citizens have widely occurred. Arbitrary and unlawful detentions, torture, mistreatment, and killing of prisoners, enforced disappearances, and the execution of inhumane punishments are among the other issues addressed in this report. Rawadari emphasizes that the human rights situation in Afghanistan in the past year has been grave and tragic.
Rawadari, a human rights organization, has published a report on the human rights situation in Afghanistan in the year 2023. The findings of this report indicate that during the year 2023, the human rights situation in Afghanistan was severely grave and tragic.
Rawadari’s findings indicate that the Taliban, during the year 2023, continued to suppress violent crackdowns on dissenting gatherings and protests, arbitrary and unlawful detentions of former government employees, protesting women and men, human rights activists, journalists, and their opponents without any accountability or sense of responsibility. According to the report’s findings, the Taliban have narrowed the space for civil, individual, and group efforts in Afghanistan.
According to the report, there has been no progress in restoring lost women’s rights and ensuring their human freedoms during the previous year. Rawadari states that the Taliban have imposed more restrictive measures regarding women’s rights to education, work, and free movement.
The report highlights that Taliban restrictions have resulted in detrimental political, economic, social, and cultural consequences for the country’s citizens. It expresses hope that Rawadari’s findings will receive serious attention from the global community, the United Nations, human rights organizations, and other responsible entities for improving the human rights situation in Afghanistan.
Rawadari states that the research data has been collected and documented with “regular and continuous monitoring of the human rights situation in Afghanistan, gathering evidence and information related to violations of civil and political rights of the residents of the country.”
The report mentions that “victims, their family members and close associates, eyewitnesses, health center officials and educational institution instructors, human rights defenders, defense lawyers, former government employees, and current judicial and prison authorities are among the most important sources in 28 provinces” used for compiling the report.
Rawadari argues about its methodology of gathering report findings, stating that the information obtained has been confirmed by at least three verified sources and then analyzed and evaluated within the framework of international human rights documents.
The findings of the Rawadari report indicate that access to information in 2023 compared to 2022 has become more difficult. According to Rawadari, the Taliban have prevented the publication of any information related to human rights violations with stricter regulations and measures. The evidence from this organization suggests that the Taliban have obtained commitments from all the released prisoners in 2023 not to share any information with the media and human rights organizations.
The report emphasizes that the Taliban have intensified pressure on victims, their families, and even their associates. Some victims and eyewitnesses of human rights violations have informed Rawadari that the Taliban have threatened them not to share any information with the media and human rights organizations.
Rawadari’s findings demonstrate that threatening actions against local media and journalists in provinces have also occurred. According to this organization, journalists have been detained, imprisoned, and tortured due to their coverage of human rights events. Additionally, the Taliban have banned the use of smartphones in certain parts of the country, including in Panjshir province.
The report mentions that the Taliban inspect citizens’ phones at checkpoints under the pretext of addressing security concerns. According to the report, the Taliban conceal their human rights violations and prevent the dissemination of information on this matter.
The findings of the report indicate that some victims and their associates refrain from speaking out and sharing information with human rights organizations due to fear of the Taliban. Some of these individuals have told Rawadari that they have no hope for justice. Victims of the Taliban’s violent behavior have emphasized that sharing their information does not alleviate their suffering.
The human rights organization emphasizes that what has been raised in the report is part of significant human rights violations in Afghanistan, which Rawadari has documented within its capabilities and resources. According to this organization, there are numerous cases of human rights violations in Afghanistan that they have not been able to document.
Based on Rawadari’s findings, at least 772 individuals were killed and injured in various human rights violations in the country during 2023. Among them, 506 lost their lives, and 266 others were injured.
According to the report, the fatalities included 390 men, 58 children, 38 women, and 20 others with unknown identities. The injuries comprised 184 men, 33 children, 9 women, and 40 others with unknown identities, including former government employees and their families, human rights defenders, tribal elders, Taliban opponents, and other civilians.
The report states that in 2023, six suicide and explosive attacks occurred in Kabul, Badakhshan, and Baghlan provinces, resulting in at least 86 deaths and 151 injuries. According to Rawadari, the majority of the victims of these attacks were Hazaras and Shia Muslims.
The findings of the report continue to show that during the previous year, 107 individuals were killed and wounded as a result of explosions from planted mines, landmines, and other explosive remnants of armed conflicts. According to the report, 55 individuals, including 43 children, 11 men, and 1 woman, were killed, and 52 others, including 31 children, 14 men, and 7 women, were wounded.
Based on the findings of this report, from January 1 to December 31, 2023, at least 428 individuals, including 374 men, 39 women, and 15 children, were deliberately, mysteriously, and non-judicially killed and wounded by the Taliban and unidentified individuals. According to Rawadari, 365 individuals were killed, and 63 others were wounded in these events.
Rawadari states in its report that the Taliban have no mechanism for monitoring the behavior of their fighters. According to this human rights organization, Taliban fighters commit various human rights violations, including retaliatory attacks, without any accountability. The report emphasizes that due to the lack of a clear uniform for Taliban forces, distinguishing unidentified individuals is difficult, and most families of the victims consider unknown armed individuals as Taliban members.
The report specifies that during the previous year, 83 individuals, including 68 military personnel and 14 civilians, were killed in targeted and extrajudicial attacks by the Taliban. According to the report, 21 individuals were killed by the group on charges of collaboration or membership in anti-Taliban groups.
Rawadari emphasizes that 262 individuals were mysteriously and extrajudicially killed by the Taliban and unidentified armed individuals during the previous year. According to this report, 216 men, 35 women, and 11 children were among the victims, and 58 men, 2 women, and 2 children were wounded in these events. Victims of these incidents included tribal elders, religious scholars, supporters of the former government, social and cultural activists, and traders.
The report states that during this year, 91 former military personnel, 6 civil servants of the previous government, and 21 of their relatives have been detained and imprisoned by the Taliban. Furthermore, the report mentions that at least 90 human rights defenders, civil activists, and journalists have been arbitrarily detained and imprisoned by the Taliban for criticizing them.
Rawadari’s findings indicate that the Taliban imprisoned at least 124 individuals in 2023 for allegedly joining the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF) and other opposing groups arbitrarily and unlawfully. According to the report, 297 others were imprisoned on charges of membership in Hizb ut-Tahrir, trimming their beards, listening to music, and disobeying other orders of this group.
The report emphasizes that Rawadari has obtained evidence and documents showing that some prisoners in Taliban prisons have died as a result of severe torture. According to the report’s findings, at least 16 individuals died in Taliban prisons in the past year due to severe torture.
Rawadari states that the Taliban, without any regard for human rights and citizenship values, have continued public and corporal punishments openly. According to the report’s findings, the Taliban publicly flogged at least 942 individuals in 8 provinces and executed two others by stoning in Bamyan Province in 2023.
The report’s findings indicate that besides extensive prohibitions against women, the Taliban have also deprived them of access to justice. According to the report, harassment, abuse, and violence against women in the country have increased, and due to the absence of laws and the Taliban’s misogynistic and discriminatory approach, women have been subjected to more violence and mistreatment.
