The United Nations (U.N.) has recorded at least 1,033 instances of mistreatment of Afghan citizens by the Taliban's morality police, according to a U.N. mission report published on Tuesday.
The report said that since the Taliban took power in 2021, Afghanistan has descended into worsening poverty, repression, particularly of women and girls, and international isolation. The U.N. noted these conditions began after the Taliban created a ministry for the "propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice."
Punishments for non-compliance to the Taliban's measures are often severe and disproportionate, according to the report. The U.N. mission added that enforcement of the measures has resulted in widespread human rights violations with at least 1,033 instances between August 2021 and March 2024.
"This includes the use of threats, arbitrary arrests and detentions, excessive use of force by de facto law enforcement officials and ill-treatment," the report said, according to the Associated Press (AP).
Newsweek reached out to the U.N. via email on Tuesday for comment.
While the report highlights numerous violations of personal liberty and physical and mental integrity, these instances were said to primarily affect men who were accused of violating Taliban orders or because of actions taken by their female relatives.
Fiona Frazer, head of the human rights service at United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said that the Taliban ministry's expansion to include measures in areas like media monitoring and eradicating drug addiction only further exacerbates the concerns for Afghans.
"The position expressed by the de facto authorities that this oversight will be increasing and expanding gives cause for significant concern for all Afghans, especially women and girls," Frazer said, according to the AP.
In a response to the AP, the Taliban's ministry dismissed the U.N. report as false and contradictory.
"Decrees and relevant legal documents are issued to reform society and should have their implementation ensured," the ministry told the news agency.
The new report is not the first time the U.N. has warned of the increasing human rights violations in Afghanistan, as the agency previously stressed the need for the reversal of the Taliban's mandates.
"We understand that the Taliban have a highly different worldview than any other Government, but it is difficult to understand how any Government worthy of the name can govern against the needs of half of its population," Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva, special representative of the secretary-general for UNAMA, said in a 2023 statement.
António Guterres, United Nations secretary-general, also said in January 2022 that after the Taliban took over "daily life has become a frozen hell" for Afghans.
In addition, Heather Barr, associate women's rights director at Human Rights Watch, likened Afghan women to "prisoners in their homes."
She warned in January 2022 that the crisis facing women and girls was "escalating with no end in sight" and the Taliban's policies were depriving the country of one of its "most precious resources."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
fairness meter
To Rate This Article
About the writer
Natalie Venegas is a Weekend Reporter at Newsweek based in New York. Her focus is reporting on education, social justice ... Read more
