Afghanistan: NGO report denounces a "litany of abuse" by the Taliban

Since the Taliban's return to power in Kabul, many Afghan women have put on the burqa and no longer dare to go out.

AP - Rahmat Gul

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

All the advances of the last twenty years for human rights and freedom of expression in Afghanistan, the Taliban are dismantling " 

systematically

 ".

This is what three NGOs denounce in a report published on Tuesday, September 21, listing a series of exactions and abuses that have occurred since mid-August, with dozens of testimonies in support.

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“ 

The Taliban tried to persuade the world that they were going to respect human rights, but the reports on the ground show a different reality.

 This is underlined by the report produced by Amnesty International, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organization against Torture (OMCT).

" 

We had no illusions about the real Taliban project,"

explains Nathalie Godard, director of action at Amnesty France, interviewed by

Heike Schmidt

, of the international service of RFI.

Today, we have proof that they have as a project, first of all, to dismantle the advances in human rights of recent years and to impose an all-out repression on civil society, on women, on journalists. , on human rights defenders and all those who oppose them.

 "

The report documents a " 

litany 

" of human rights violations: intimidation and repression of women, human rights defenders, reprisals against former government officials, attacks on freedom of expression.

Based in particular on a dozen direct testimonies, the report covers the period from August 15, the date of the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, until September 12.

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See also: United Kingdom: the names, emails and photos of 250 Afghan interpreters disclosed in error

" 

Climate of fear

 " 

" 

Human rights defenders are in a situation of great fear and with a permanent threat,"

warns Nathalie Godard.

For example, an Afghan human rights defender who managed to leave the country, as soon as the Taliban arrived, suffered direct intimidation, direct threats. People knew his name, threatened him. And his colleagues were severely beaten and lashed. This man managed to leave Afghanistan, but also testified to the direct and real threat facing human rights defenders today in Kabul. Defenders who, when they stay in Kabul, are trapped because of the great difficulty in leaving the country even today. So there are both direct threats, persecutions, cases that we have directly documented and a climate of fear that is present.

 "

" 

As a result of the climate of fear engendered by the Taliban's seizure of power,

 according to the report, 

many Afghan women now wear the burka, refrain from leaving their homes without a male guardian and cease certain activities to avoid violence and reprisals

.

"

The three NGOs call on the UN Human Rights Council to establish an independent investigative mechanism to identify these abuses. 

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To read also: #DoNotTouchMyClothes: against the Taliban, Afghan women defend their traditional outfits 

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