The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
UN rights chief warns of likely war crimes in Afghanistan as Taliban reclaims control
Violence against Afghan civilians by Taliban fighters “could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity” UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on Tuesday, before urging a return to peace negotiations in Doha.
Among the alleged violations, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights highlighted "deeply disturbing reports" of the summary execution of surrendering government troops in the face of the Taliban offensive, and the killing of a female rights defender.
“Parties to the conflict must stop fighting to prevent more bloodshed,” Ms. Bachelet said in a statement. “The Taliban must cease their military operations in cities. Unless all parties return to the negotiating table and reach a peaceful settlement, the already atrocious situation for so many Afghans will become much worse.”
Since 9 July in four cities alone – Lashkar Gah, Kandahar, Herat and Kunduz – at least 183 civilians have been killed and 1,181 injured, including children, according to the Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR).
The real figure “will be much higher”, Ms. Bachelet said, as “these are just the civilian casualties we have managed to document”.
Speaking for the High Commissioner, OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani underscored how Taliban violence had targeted women, rights defenders and journalists. “People are living in fear and dread,” she said. “Women are already being killed and shot for breaching rules that have been imposed on what they can wear and where they can move without a male escort.”
Ms. Shamdasani told journalists in Geneva that freedom of expression has also been curbed, as radio stations go off air.
“There are already reports of women having been flogged and beaten in public because they breached the prescribed rules,” she said. “In one case in Balkh province, on 3 August, a women’s rights activist was shot and killed for breaching the rules.”
OHCHR has also received reports of “summary executions, attacks against current and former government officials and their family members, destruction of homes, schools and clinics and the laying of large numbers of IEDs (improvised explosive devices)”, in areas already captured by the Taliban and in contested areas.
Even before the latest Taliban attacks on urban centres, the UN documented an unprecedented increase in the number of civilian casualties.
Amid the continuing pull-out of international and US forces, an estimated 192 district administrative centres have fallen to the Taliban, with attacks on provincial capitals including Qala-e-Naw, Kandahar, Lashkar Gah, Herat, Faizabad, Ghazni, Maimana, Gardez, Faizabad, Pul-e- Khumri, and Mazar-e-Sharif, and the takeover of at least six provincial capitals - Zaranj in Nimroz province, Sheberghan in Jawzjan province, Kunduz City in Kunduz province, Taloqan in Takhar province, Sar-e-Pul in Sar-e-Pul province and Aybak in Samangan province.
In an appeal to all parties to the conflict to stop fighting “to prevent more bloodshed”, the High Commissioner urged the Taliban to cease all military operations in cities. “Unless all parties return to the negotiating table and reach a peaceful settlement, the already atrocious situation for so many Afghans will become much worse,” she said.
The UN rights chief also urged all States to use their influence – bilaterally and multilaterally – to bring the hostilities to an end, noting in her statement the many opportunities for constructive engagement by the belligerents at peace-related meetings taking place this week in Doha.
“States have a duty to use any leverage they have to de-escalate the situation and reinvigorate peace processes. The fighting must be brought to an end,” the High Commissioner said.
According to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the UN Human Rights Office, most of the civilian harm has been caused by ground engagements.
Airstrikes have also resulted in civilian casualties, Ms. Bachelet’s statement noted, with at least 241,000 people displaced since the start of the May Taliban offensive.
ends
STORY: Afghanistan Violence – OHCHR
TRT: 3’15”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 10 August 2021, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot, United Nations flag flying, a sunny day.
- Wide shot, press conference venue, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “We’ve already documented 183 civilians, but we do fear that this is really just the tip of the iceberg. The 1,181 who have already documented to be injured, we don’t know how many of them might succumb to their injuries. People are living in fear and dread. Women are already being killed and shot for breaching rules that have been imposed on what they can wear and where they can move without a male escort. It’s time for the international community to prioritise peace in Afghanistan”.
- Medium shot, the spokesperson on the screen.
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “It is clearly no coincidence that these human rights violations have returned. The Taliban is imposing these restrictions on women, these very unacceptable human rights violations which as I said will lead to another cascade of human rights violations. When you take away a woman’s freedom of movement you are limiting her ability to be of use to her family. Even when you’ve got family members who have been critically injured in the course of the conflict, being able to take a wounded child to a hospital without a male escort is not possible, this is unacceptable”.
- Medium shot, participants are listening and taking notes.
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “There are already reports of women having been flogged and beaten in public because they breached the prescribed rules. In one case in Balkh Province, on the 3rd of August a women’s rights activist was shot and killed for breaching the rules”.
- Medium shot, journalist with camera.
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “In the areas that have already been captured by the Taliban and in contested areas, the offices have been receiving reports of summary executions, attacks against current and former government officials and their family members, military use and destruction of homes, schools and clinics and the laying of large numbers of IEDs (improvised explosive devices), including pressure-plate IED which function as anti-personnel landmines”.
- Medium shot, TV screen showing broadcast image of spokespersons.
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The number of civilian causalities has already been mounting and now it has reached a level that could be calamitous”.
- Medium shot, podium with Ravina Shamdasani speaking.
- SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The Taliban as I said, also has a duty in the areas under their control to ensure that there are no reprisals against journalists doing their job. Now unfortunately, we are already seeing that some radio stations have stopped broadcasting and there are serious curbs on the freedom of expression in these areas”.
- Close-up, participant, hand with pen.
- Close-up, participants taking notes.
- Close-up, hands typing.
- Wide shot, press conference proceedings.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR , WHO
The past two months of intensifying Israeli bombardment in Lebanon have been the “deadliest and most devastating” in decades as communities uprooted from the front line have continued to flee across the border to Syria, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
2
1
3
Edited News | UNOG
“State of Silence”: Diego Luna brings the fight to protect the press to the UN in Geneva
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna has brought his fight to protect journalists all the way to the United Nations, in Geneva. Together with documentary director Santiago Masa, he is putting a spotlight on the silencing of investigative journalism in his country, and on the incredibly high price that many journalist have to pay in pursuit of truth.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“Today marks the grim milestone of 1,000 days since the Russian Federation launched its full-scale armed attack on Ukraine. Our Office has verified that at least 12,162 civilians have been killed since 24 February 2022, among them 659 children. At least another 26,919 civilians have been injured,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurance told the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
With COP29 in Baku now in its second - and final - week, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has reiterated his call for urgent human rights-based climate action.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL , UNICEF , WHO
Lebanon: Increased violence along Blue Line and ‘horrific new normal’ for children
In southern Lebanon, peacekeepers have witnessed “shocking” destruction of villages along the Blue Line and ever-deeper Israeli ground incursions, while the situation of children across the country is becoming increasingly desperate, the UN said on Tuesday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNRWA
The head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, confirmed on Monday that a large convoy of humanitarian aid was looted inside Gaza at the weekend, amid a near-total a breakdown in law and order and harassment of the agency’s staff by Israeli soldiers.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
In the nearly 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, thousands of civilians have been killed, the country’s energy infrastructure is on the brink and drones terrify communities on the front line, the UN’s top aid official in the country said on Friday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna took a break from the big screen on Thursday to highlight the dangers faced by journalists in his country and beyond, condemning murders of reporters everywhere as “a scandal”.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
Gaza: ‘People are losing hope’ as aid access is refused to north, warns UNRWA
Besieged northern Gaza is a place of dead bodies lying in the streets and hospitals running out of blood packs – a situation that’s “nothing short of catastrophic”, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence & Ajith Sunghay, Head of UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, on Gaza
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Sudan’s displaced have endured “unimaginable suffering” in their search for shelter from the country’s ongoing war, UN humanitarians warned on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘Exceptional achievement’: Humanitarians reach over 105,000 with polio vaccine in north Gaza
Despite ongoing attacks and access challenges, humanitarians have managed to inoculate over 105,000 children in north Gaza with the second and final dose of the oral polio vaccine, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.