The Kabul Tribune (KT)-- Amnesty International on Tuesday accused the Taliban of deepening human rights abuses in Afghanistan through decrees and regulations that it said institutionalize harsh restrictions, corporal punishment and discrimination.
The rights group said the Taliban’s criminal procedure
regulations permit torture and corporal punishment, allow the death penalty for
a wide range of offenses and fail to adequately criminalize some forms of
physical violence against women by their husbands.
Amnesty also said the Taliban’s rules further discriminate
against ethno-religious minorities by labeling people who hold beliefs contrary
to Sunni Islam as heretics. It said the Taliban’s morality police continue to
detain women accused of violating the group’s dress code.
The organization welcomed a report by the U.N. special
rapporteur on Afghanistan and called for the accelerated establishment of an
independent investigative mechanism to examine abuses in the country. It urged
governments to provide sufficient financial support for the mechanism so it can
begin its work immediately.
Amnesty also said civilians continue to be harmed amid
escalating cross-border hostilities between the Taliban and Pakistan. The
organization said it investigated a March 16 Pakistani airstrike on a
rehabilitation center in Kabul that resulted in more than 300 civilian casualties.
According to Amnesty, the attack violated the principles of
distinction, precaution and proportionality, as well as special protections for
health care facilities under the laws of war, and could amount to a war crime.
The organization said widespread rights violations in
Afghanistan are continuing alongside a worsening humanitarian crisis and
large-scale forced returns of Afghans, particularly from Pakistan and Iran, as
well as deportations from European countries.
Amnesty called on all governments to halt the forced return
of Afghans, saying the principle of non-refoulement — which prohibits returning
people to places where they face serious threats — must be respected.
The rights group also urged the international community to
take stronger measures to end human rights violations in Afghanistan, including
abuses targeting ethno-religious communities.
