Fighting in Afghanistan must be brought to end: Rights Chief

A mother and her children fled conflict in Lashkargah and now live in a displaced persons camp in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan. Unicef Afghanistan.

Geneva, 10 Aug (Kanaga Raja) – The parties to the conflict in Afghanistan must stop fighting in order to prevent more bloodshed, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on 10 August, as civilian casualties continued to mount during the latest military offensive by the Taliban.

In a news release, High Commissioner Ms Michelle Bachelet warned that the failure to stem the rising violence and commission of human rights violations and abuses is having disastrous consequences for the people of Afghanistan.

“Parties to the conflict must stop fighting to prevent more bloodshed,” said Ms Bachelet.

“The Taliban must cease their military operations in cities. Unless all parties return to the negotiating table and reach a peaceful settlement, the already atrocious situation for so many Afghans will become much worse,” she added.

“We know that urban warfare results in scores of civilians being killed. We have seen it before, too many times,” Ms Bachelet said.

She noted that in Afghanistan, since 9 July, in four cities alone – Lashkar Gah, Kandahar, Herat and Kunduz – at least 183 civilians have been killed and 1,181 injured, including children.

“These are just the civilian casualties we have managed to document – the real figures will be much higher,” Ms Bachelet said.

She pointed out that even before the latest Taliban military offensives on urban centres, the UN had documented a steep increase in civilian casualties (see below).

Ms Bachelet also called on all States to use their influence – bilaterally and multilaterally – to bring the hostilities to an end.

Taking note of the peace-related meetings taking place in Doha, Qatar, this week, she said that “States have a duty to use any leverage they have to de-escalate the situation and re-invigorate peace processes. The fighting must be brought to an end.”

According to reports documented by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the UN Human Rights Office, most of the civilian harm is being caused by ground engagements.

Since the start of the Taliban offensive in May, at least 241,000 people have been displaced, and the protracted fighting in the cities has resulted in damage to essential infrastructure like roads and bridges, and other civilian objects.

According to the news release, the situation in the southern city of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, starkly demonstrates the harrowing impact that hostilities in urban areas have on civilians.

In only 13 days since 28 July, when fighting started in the city, the UN received reports of at least 139 civilians killed and 481 injured.

By 5 August, hospitals were nearly at full capacity. On 31 July, a private clinic was significantly damaged by an Afghan National Army air strike, leaving one civilian dead and five injured.

Ms Bachelet said that the sweeping takeover of an estimated 192 district administrative centres by the Taliban, the attacks on provincial capitals including Qala-e-Naw, Kandahar, Lashkar Gah, Herat, Faizabad, Ghazni, Maimana, Gardez, Faizabad, Pul-e- Khumri, and Mazar-e-Sharif, and the takeover of at least six provincial capitals – Zaranj in Nimroz province, Sheberghan in Jawzjan province, Kunduz City in Kunduz province, Taloqan in Takhar province, Sar-e-Pul in Sar-e-Pul province and Aybak in Samangan province – “have struck fear and dread into the population.”

She also cautioned that the proliferation of pro-Government militias being mobilized against the Taliban may also put civilians in additional danger.

Ms Bachelet said that in the areas that have already been captured by the Taliban and in contested areas, her Office was receiving reports of summary executions, attacks against current and former Government officials and their family members, military use and destruction of homes, schools and clinics, and the laying of large numbers of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), including pressure-plate IEDs which function as anti-personnel land mines.

According to the news release, the UN is also receiving other deeply disturbing reports of serious violations of international humanitarian law such as killings by the Taliban of hors de combat members of Afghan security forces – in some cases after they had even received letters guaranteeing their safety upon surrendering.

Orders issued by members of the local Afghan National Police not to spare captured or surrendering Taliban members are also prohibited under international humanitarian law, it said.

The High Commissioner reminded all parties of their obligation to take all necessary measures to protect civilians, especially when fighting in populated areas.

Directing attacks against civilians is a serious violation of international humanitarian law and amounts to a war crime, and perpetrators of serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law must be held accountable, said Ms Bachelet.

The High Commissioner also expressed particular concern about early indications that the Taliban are imposing severe restrictions on human rights in the areas under their control, particularly targeting women.

“People rightly fear that a seizure of power by the Taliban will erase the human rights gains of the past two decades,” she said.

“We have received reports that women and girls in various districts under Taliban control are prohibited from leaving their homes without a Mahram, a male chaperone,” Ms Bachelet noted.

“These restrictions have a serious impact on the rights of women, including the right to health – and clearly, in the midst of a war, the need to access urgent medical care for themselves and their families is a matter of life and death.”

Ms Bachelet said that hampering a woman’s ability to leave home without a male escort also inevitably leads to a cascade of other violations of the woman’s own human rights and her family’s economic and social rights.

The High Commissioner also said that serious curbs on the freedom of expression and the ability of journalists to do their crucial work by both parties are also of deep concern during this time of uncertainty and chaos.

“The people of Afghanistan are speaking of their deep fears of a return to the worst of the human rights violations of the past,” said Ms Bachelet.

“Women, minorities, human rights defenders, journalists as well as others who are particularly vulnerable need particular protection. There are very real risks of renewed atrocities against ethnic and religious minorities.”

“We will continue to monitor the human rights situation, in spite of security and other challenges, and I urge the international community, including through the Human Rights Council and the Security Council, to take urgent action to prevent further atrocities and to ensure that civilians in Afghanistan do not – once again – have to bear the brunt, and aftermath, of a prolonged and deadly conflict,” the High Commissioner concluded.

SHARP RISE IN CIVILIAN CASUALTIES

According to a Mid-year Update on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in Afghanistan issued in July, between 1 January and 30 June 2021, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented 5,183 civilian casualties (1,659 killed and 3,524 injured) in the country.

It said that the total number of civilians killed and injured increased by 47 per cent compared with the first half of 2020, reversing the trend of the past four years of decreasing civilian casualties in the first six months of the year, with civilian casualties rising again to the record levels seen in the first six months of 2014 to 2018.

Of particular concern, UNAMA documented record numbers of girls and women killed and injured, as well as record numbers of overall child casualties.

Compared with the first six months of 2020, the number of civilian female children (girls) and female adults (women) killed and injured each nearly doubled, it said.

During the first six months of 2021, and in comparison with the same period last year, UNAMA documented a nearly three-fold increase in civilian casualties resulting from the use of non-suicide improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by Anti-Government Elements.

Civilian casualties from ground engagements, attributed mainly to the Taliban and Afghan national security forces, also increased significantly, it said.

UNAMA also said that it is concerned by the increased number of civilian casualties that have occurred since the announcements by international military forces in April, and then the commencement shortly thereafter, of their withdrawal from Afghanistan, after which the Taliban captured a significant number of district administrative centres.

UNAMA said that between 1 May and 30 June 2021, it recorded 2,392 civilian casualties, nearly as many as were documented in the entire four preceding months.

The number of civilian casualties in May-June 2021 was the highest on record for those two months since UNAMA began systematic documentation in 2009, it said.

UNAMA said it is also concerned about the increasing number of reports of killing, ill-treatment, persecution and discrimination in communities affected by the current fighting and its aftermath. - Third World Network

Especially during times of heightened conflict, all parties must respect the human rights and dignity of people and prevent such abuses and violations, it said.