Geneva, Switzerland
Reuters
The UN human rights chief said on Tuesday that she had received credible reports of serious violations by the Taliban in Afghanistan, including “summary executions” of civilians and Afghan security forces who had surrendered.
Michelle Bachelet gave no details of the killings in her speech to the Human Rights Council, but urged it to set up a mechanism to closely monitor Taliban actions.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet wears a face mask at a special session of the Human Rights Council on the situation in Afghanistan, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on 24th August. PICTURE: Reuters/Denis Balibouse
Under a resolution agreed later on Tuesday by the Geneva forum, she is to report back at its September-October session on the situation and on any violations committed by the Taliban, and make a fuller written report in March, 2022.
The Taliban treatment of women and girls would be “a fundamental red line”, Bachelet told an emergency session of the council, held at the request of Pakistan and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
AFGHANISTAN “MARCHING TOWARDS STARVATION” – UN FOOD CHIEF
Millions of Afghans could soon face starvation due to a combination of conflict, drought and the coronavirus pandemic, the executive director of the World Food Programme said on Tuesday, calling on political leaders to act fast.
“There’s a perfect storm coming because of several years of drought, conflict, economic deterioration, compounded by COVID,” David Beasley told Reuters in Doha. “The number of people marching towards starvation has spiked to now 14 million.”
The WFP is warning of a human catastrophe looming in Afghanistan if the United Nations agency is not able to raise $US200 million by September.
Afghanistan is facing economic collapse after foreign countries and institutions said they would withhold aid and monetary reserves after Islamist Taliban insurgents took control of the capital Kabul on 15th August.
Beasley said the international community faced some very difficult decisions, warning it would be “hell on earth” for the people of Afghanistan if the economic situation deteriorated.
“The people of Afghanistan need aid now,” he said, adding that the amount of people needing the WFP’s help could double if the international community “turns their back” on Afghans.
“The politics needs to be worked out as soon as possible.”
Beasley said he was very worried about whether the agency would raise the $US200 million needed and that it hoped Qatar, other Gulf Arab states and the United States would contribute.
Without the $US200 million, he said, the WFP would start to run out of food for Afghanistan next month and that four million lives would be at risk if food aid could not be pre-positioned for them before winter.
“Our number problem and concern right now is money.”
Beasley also said the Taliban had provided assurances to the WFP to allow its aid to continue to reach people unimpeded.
“They have thus far been cooperative. They have allowed us independence, neutrality and impartiality,” he said, adding that the Taliban were not taxing vehicles carrying aid supplies.
– Reuters/ALEXANDER CORNWELL and EMMA THOMASSON
Pakistan’s ambassador Khalil Hashmi said the resolution voiced grave concern over reports of violations and sent a “message of solidarity to the people of Afghanistan”.
Austria’s ambassador, Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger, speaking on behalf of the European Union, said it was joining the consensus even though the resolution “falls short”. The bloc had sought to launch an international investigation, she said.
Nasir Ahmad Andisha, a senior Afghan diplomat from the deposed government, called for accountability for Taliban actions, describing an “uncertain and dire” situation where millions of people fear for their lives.
“Monitoring is essential to prevent further atrocities and ensure accountability,” Andisha told the talks.
Independent UN human rights experts, in a joint statement, said many people were in hiding as “the Taliban continues to search homes door-to-door” and property seizures and reprisals were being reported.
“The acts of the Taliban over the course of these months and to date may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity,” they said.
But China’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Chen Xu, said that the US Army and the militaries of other coalition partners, including Britain and Australia, should be held accountable for alleged rights violations by their forces in Afghanistan.
The United States condemned attacks that it said were being carried out against civilians, journalists, activists and minority groups, but did not name the Taliban.
Amnesty International said that its investigation into the massacre of nine ethnic Hazara men in Ghazni province last month was “proof that the Taliban’s capacity for murder and torture has not diminished”.
“The UN Human Rights Council special session has failed to deliver a credible response to the escalating human rights crisis in Afghanistan,” Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general, said in a statement.
