The United Nations said on Wednesday (July 20) that the Taliban had committed hundreds of human rights breaches in Afghanistan since taking control last year, including extrajudicial murders and torture.
The UNAMI in Afghanistan also drew attention to the precarious state of women and girls since the Taliban's takeover and how they have lost many of their human rights under the country's current authorities.
"It is beyond time for all Afghans to be able to live in peace and rebuild their lives after 20 years of armed conflict," deputy special representative of the secretary-general for Afghanistan, Markus Potzel said.
"Our monitoring reveals that despite the improved security situation since 15 August, the people of Afghanistan, in particular women and girls, are deprived of the full enjoyment of their human rights."
According to the article, 700 people have died and 1,400 have been injured since mid-August 2021, when the Taliban seized control of Kabul, the Afghan capital, as the U.S. and NATO were nearing the end of their exit from the nation.
The majority of those fatalities were connected to attacks carried out by a local branch of the Islamic State, a fierce enemy of the Taliban that has targeted ethnic and religious minority communities where they attend worship services, go to school, and go about their daily lives.
Attacks against civilians in Afghanistan have been ongoing, frequently targeting the Hazara ethnic minority, a mostly Shiite Muslim group. The Islamic State group's local offshoot in the nation has taken credit for the majority of the attacks.
Since toppling the previous Western-backed administration, the Taliban have frequently refuted allegations of rights violations, but a UNAMA report released on Wednesday detailed numerous instances.
The most popular forms of torture included beatings with cables and pipes, kicking, punching, and slapping, as well as the use of electric shock devices.
More than 200 instances of harsh, inhumane, or degrading treatment were recorded, along with more than 100 instances of excessive force being used, including hitting shops for not attending mosque.
Since the war's end, security has significantly increased nationwide, and the number of civilian casualties has significantly decreased.
The Taliban, however, who are infamous for their violent reign of terror between 1996 and 2001, has severely curtailed Afghans' liberties, especially those of women and girls.
UNAMA received 87 reports of violence against women and girls, including murder, rape, suicide, forced marriages, child marriage, assault, and abuse. Two examples of honor killings were also reported, however, none of these incidents were ever reported to the legal justice system.
