218 Former Government Officials, ANDSF Members Killed Since Taliban’s Takeover in 2021

United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Tuesday released a report which has documented at least 218 extrajudicial killings of former government officials and ANDSF members since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.

The most targeted groups affiliated with the former government were Afghan National Army (ANA) members, Afghan National Police (ANP), National Directorate of Security (NDS) officials, and Afghan Local Police (ALP), the report stated.

The report, covering the period from the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan on 15 August 2021 to 30 June 2023, documented at least 800 instances of extrajudicial killing, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and ill-treatment and enforced disappearance carried out against individuals affiliated with the former government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and its security forces.

“UNAMA’s report presents a sobering picture of the treatment of individuals affiliated with the former government and security forces of Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover of the country,” said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urged stakeholders to uphold their obligations under international human rights law by preventing further violations.

Human rights violations against former government officials and ANDSF members have been recorded across all 34 provinces; with the greatest number of violations recorded in Kabul, Kandahar and Balkh provinces.

The report stated that there had been recorded instances of torture and ill-treatment carried out by Taliban security force members, including beatings with pipes, cables, verbal threats and abuse. UNAMA also heard from family members whose relatives had been arrested or gone missing, their bodies found days or even months later.

UNAMA has documented at least 14 instances of enforced disappearance of former government officials and ANDSF members and also documented more than 424 arbitrary arrests and detentions of former government officials and ANDSF members since the Taliban takeover.

Apart from this, more than 144 instances of torture and ill treatment of former government officials and ANDSF members by de facto security force members have been documented in the UNAMA report.

The UNAMA report called on the Taliban to clarify the terms of the general amnesty, to ensure that it is upheld and to conduct credible, transparent criminal investigations into alleged human rights violations against former government officials and ANDSF members.

When the Taliban had seized power in Kabul on 15 August 2021, its spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid had tweeted that they would not “seek revenge from anyone, those who had jobs in the military and civilian departments of Kabul administration are pardoned and at peace”, basically announcing their general amnesty.