WorlPosted at: Jul 31 2021 11:12PM Taliban killed govt officials in Spin Boldak, plundered homes, can amount to war crimes, says Afghan rights panel
Kabul, Jul 31 (UNI) In a strong indictment of the Taliban, the national human rights institution of Afghanistan said Saturday that the Islamist militia resorted to plundering the property of common people and hunting down and killing government officials in retaliatory attacks after the group took over Spin Boldak district.
The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, in a stinging report, said, “the group has no practical commitment to the principles of international human rights and humanitarian law”.
Following the fall of the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province to the Taliban on July 14, the AIHRC despite serious challenges in the area investigated and documented the reported killing of civilians by the Taliban, and also interviewed a number of victims' families and eyewitnesses.
“The evidence indicates that the Taliban, in violation of international humanitarian law, committed retaliatory killings of civilians and looted the property of several local residents, including the properties related to former and current government officials,” the report said.
After the Taliban took over Spin Boldak, the security and defence forces started a military operation to retake the district, which was welcomed by some of the local residents. A number of Spin Boldak district residents ran out of their homes to welcome the security forces, although they did not actively participate in the district recapturing operation.
"Security forces were unable to recapture the Spin Boldak district after fighting the Taliban. The Taliban then began sweeping in many villages adjacent to the district market, looking for former and current civil servants and identifying government supporters. The Taliban expelled them from their homes and killed them; as some of those bodies have been identified so far," the report said.
The Commission found that the Taliban has retaliated against the past and present government officials and residents who welcomed security forces during the recapture of Spin Boldak district. They looted property belonging to a number of locals, including the homes of former and current government officials.
It said, “personal motives and earlier confrontations seem to have also been involved in the Taliban's killing of local civilians”.
“Since July 16, the Commission has identified 40 people killed in the district by the Taliban. There are allegations of higher numbers of civilians killed and injured by the Taliban in this manner in Spin Boldak that we have not been able to fully verify yet. The killing of these individuals by the Taliban in Spin Boldak district is a clear violation of international humanitarian law and can amount to war crimes,” it said.
“While the Taliban leadership has officially stated that its affiliated militants will not harm civilians or civilian facilities; but this and other similar incidents show that contrary to what they proclaim, the group has no practical commitment to the principles of international human rights and humanitarian law,” the commission said in stinging remarks.
It called on the warring parties, in particular the Taliban, to fulfil their legal obligations to protect the civilians’ right to life and physical integrity and to refrain from retaliatory attacks and the destruction of public facilities and people’s properties.
UNI RN RHK2312