New Videos Put Spotlight On Taliban Retribution Killings In Afghanistan

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By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
March 15, 2022

Newly emerged video of the summary execution of an Afghan accused of fighting against the Taliban in the Panjshir Valley and the torture and killing of a shopkeeper in the northeastern region have added to the growing list of brutal acts of vengeance carried out by the extremist group since its return to power in August.

Video and images obtained by RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi indicated that 48-year-old shopkeeper Ghulam Sakhi had been severely tortured, with extreme bruising to both of his legs, signs of beatings to his torso, and his head heavily wrapped with a bandage.

Ahmad Shah Ayubi, a resident of the southeastern district of Khanj, told Radio Azadi that Sakhi was dragged from his home in the village of Mata by Taliban fighters on the night of March 12 after taking part in a rally against the recent torture and killing of another man in the province.

Ayubi said Sakhi’s battered body was thrown in front of the deceased’s home the next morning. “A number of young people assembled to take [Sakhi’s] body to the provincial government building,” he said.

Fearing that the rally would spread, the Taliban’s governor for Panjshir arrived in Mata and told the protesters that the perpetrators of the crime had been arrested, Ayubi said. Mawlawi Dad Mohammad, the Taliban police chief in Panjshir, told Radio Azadi on March 14 that 12 people had been arrested in connection with the killing and that an investigation had been launched.

Panjshir, a rugged mountain valley located about 100 kilometers northeast of the capital, was the scene of short-lived resistance to the Taliban after the militant group seized Kabul on August 15, 2021.

Since the Taliban conquered the valley in September, locals have claimed that the militants have committed human rights abuses against the civilian population including extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary detentions, and forcible evictions.

Sakhi’s killing comes after video of the summary execution of 25-year-old Bilal Jawani in Panjshir was posted this week on social media. The killing took place in September in the village of Hesarak in the Rukha district as the Taliban was fighting to wrestle control of Panjshir.

The video shows Jawani, with his hands bound behind his back, being surrounded and questioned by his accusers before he is shot multiple times at close range and falls dead on rocky terrain.

The incident has led to protestations of Jawani’s innocence by his family and to an outcry on social media about yet another example of the Taliban’s brutality despite its pledges to adhere to human rights standards.

Speaking to Radio Azadi on condition of anonymity due to fears of retribution by the Taliban, a relative said Jawani did not have ties to the anti-Taliban National Resistance Front of Afghanistan or to the former Afghan National Army (ANA). “He had no connection with the resistance front or the previous government. He was a teacher,” the relative said.

The relative said Jawani was executed because he was wearing camouflage clothing that resembled that worn by the ANA. “The Taliban martyred him because of his military uniform, without any evidence of [his ties to the] resistance or the previous government.”

Revenge On Panjshir

The Taliban announced on September 6 that it had captured the Panjshir Valley, a traditional hotbed of resistance that the militants had never managed to control while in power from 1996 to 2001.

The region is the birthplace of Ahmad Shah Masud, an ethnic Tajik commander who had successfully defended his homeland against Soviet forces and the Taliban and used his clout to unite other ethnic factions to create the Northern Alliance in 1996.

Following his assassination by Al-Qaeda militants in 2001, Masud continues to be revered as a local hero. The fall of the Panjshir Valley in September was seen as a significant step in the Taliban’s effort to consolidate power after foreign troops withdrew and the militants toppled the Western-backed Afghan government.

During intra-Afghan and international peace talks that took place in the run-up to the withdrawal of foreign forces, the Taliban attempted to cast itself as a more moderate version of the group that had been accused of extreme human rights abuses during its first stint in power from 1996 to 2001. With that came pledges to observe international human rights norms, a promise it repeated shortly after forcibly taking power.

Following the emergence of the video of Jawani’s killing, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Radio Azadi that the group was aware of the footage and that an investigation was under way. “The killer will be brought to justice. Whoever he is, whatever he has done is wrong,” Mujahid said.

But Jawani’s relative expressed skepticism about the Taliban’s judicial practices and called for outside intervention. “We are not satisfied with [the Taliban’s] government. No one is satisfied,” the relative said. “We call on the United Nations to bring the perpetrators to justice.”

The office of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has not yet commented on Jawani’s killing.

The Taliban has consistently been criticized by UNAMA and international rights watchdogs for its human rights practices, including the treatment of girls and women, acts of retribution against ethnic and religious minorities, and the killings of former members of the Afghan police force and the ANA despite claims that it had introduced an amnesty to protect them.

Copyright (c) 2022. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

For Afghans Abroad, Nowruz Is a Chance to Reflect

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NYT: The holiday marks the beginning of spring, with many in the diaspora celebrating with rebirth, renewal and, now, resistance in mind. An ancient celebration rooted in Zoroastrian tradition, Nowruz signals the beginning of spring and the new year in Afghanistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and beyond. Click here to read more (external link).

US Envoy Appeals for International Support for Afghan Women

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Breshna Omarkhel
VOA News
March 15, 2022

The U.S. special envoy for Afghan women, Rina Amiri, says women’s rights in Afghanistan “suffered a tremendous setback” after the Taliban seized power in August, but that supporting Afghan women is “one area where there is solidarity” in the United States and international community.

Amiri, who was appointed as a special envoy for Afghan women, girls, and human rights in December, said that the Taliban has “consistently” pledged to reopen girls’ schools, but that “education without a link to economic opportunities and without the ability to work is not very meaningful.”

In an interview with Breshna Omarkhel of VOA’s Afghan service, Amiri said that the international community “needs to step up and provide direct support” to Afghan women and civil society.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

VOA: In your opinion, have Afghan women lost their two-decade gains after the Taliban seized power in August 2021?

Rina Amiri: You know, on August 15, I think we all recognize that Afghan women and the Afghan population, in general, suffered a tremendous setback. Overnight, Afghan women and girls were shut out of schools, shut out of work, and prevented from participating in public and political life after two decades of tremendous gains. But my hope is that the achievements [to be preserved]. And we’ve already seen the tremendous resilience among Afghan women and girls and their determination to not turn the clock backwards.

VOA: How would you respond to some of the activists saying that the U.S. and the international community have left Afghan women to the mercy of the Taliban?

Rina Amiri: I’m sympathetic to them. I think that it’s understandable that, you know, I was speaking to Afghan women inside the country in the months that led up to the Taliban takeover and on the day of and I, you know, I heard the devastation of their voice and just the level of disbelief that suddenly overnight they were, these were women who were serving as ministers, as parliamentarians, as lawyers as judges, as shopkeepers, that suddenly all of that was being taken away when they had received such support from the international community. So, I can see where that frustration, and that dismay, comes from. But one area where there’s solidarity is the issue of Afghan women’s rights. There is support among Republicans among Democrats, among the country as a whole. So, this and, you know, I’ve had the benefit now, not just in this job but in all the work that I’ve done in the last two decades to be able to speak to a wide variety of countries, civil society actors throughout the world; and they always ask me when they find out that I am from Afghan heritage, the first thing they ask me is what they can do to support Afghan women’s rights. And that hasn’t changed. In fact, that has been amplified since August 15th.

VOA: We know that the Taliban have imposed strict rules and are imposing new restrictions on women. What can the U.S. and the international community do to ensure that women in Afghanistan have their very basic rights? Does the U.S. have any leverage on the Taliban?

Rina Amiri: I think there are multiple areas to work on. First, I think it’s supporting Afghan women themselves, supporting them not just as victims, but as leaders. These women have shown tremendous courage, tremendous resilience and should not just be treated as victims to be helped, but leadership voices that need to be lifted and to be supported and to be leveraged. And they also need more direct support, and this is a case that I’m making in the U.S. government and to the international community that Afghan women have been stripped of their rights inside the country, but that the donor community needs to step up and provide direct support so that Afghan women, civil society organizations are sustained and that they’re supported to carry out their work. That is something that must continue. So that’s one element. Two is, you know, since I started, I’ve had the opportunity to engage the Taliban directly along with other international actors on a wide variety of issues. And what I’ve been reassured by is that it’s not just my position. My role, my mandate, is to leverage and to prioritize the situation of Afghan women and girls and human rights. But I’ve heard from every single special representative that has been sitting next to me at these tables, including the U.S. special representative, Tom West, the European special representative, those from Muslim majority countries, making the case that the Taliban, the Afghan women’s rights are not negotiable and that they are out of step if they believe that they can strip women’s educational rights, economic rights and their right and their responsibility to participate in the social life of the political life of the country.

VOA: Are women’s rights a condition for the Taliban’s recognition?

Rina Amiri: What is very clear is: for the Taliban to have any level of legitimacy both inside the country and with the international community, they have to enable women’s rights, they have to protect women’s rights and they have to advance women’s rights. And to some degree, I hear that they understand that reality. They have, I think if you look at the course that they’ve taken in the last seven months on some areas, they have recognized that they need to move for example, in the area of education. They have now consistently said that they are going to be opening up schools for girls. They’ve opened up university-level education in some areas.

And what they said to me which was most encouraging is that they are going to open up schools for girls not just because the international community wants it but because it’s a principle of Islam. So that’s an area where I think that there has been some progress. What I note to them is that education without a link to economic opportunity and without the ability to work is not very meaningful because for Afghan families, it’s a very pragmatic issue. They educate their girls so that they could put food on the table so that they can have a future of economic sustainability.

VOA: What are the United States’ key demands from the Taliban, especially about women? What exactly does the U.S. want the Taliban to change?

Rina Amiri: The U.S. has consistently said that the Taliban have to respect the fundamental rights of women, girls and all Afghan citizens, including vulnerable populations, minorities. One is to put forward a process in that country. Right now, the Taliban are in a position where they are saying that they are prepared to govern the country, and the U.S. position has been that governing the country would require an inclusive and transparent process that brings in the voices of all Afghans and women in particular that they have to be able to return to school at all levels, not just the primary and secondary but primary, secondary, tertiary across the country and every part of the country.

Taliban Local Security Forces: Armed Men Kill a Former National Security Soldier in Farah Province

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8am: In addition, it is reported that two former military soldiers are killed in Mazar-e-Sharif too.  Though Taliban have announced the general amnesty, the former soldiers, government officials, and those who have worked with foreign alliances have not yet been safe for the last six months. They are either killed or imprisoned and the Taliban are taking no responsibility and are closing the files as of mysterious murders by unknown gunmen. Click here to read more (external link).

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Pashtun Jirga in Bannu Calls for Elections, Jirga in Afghanistan

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Manzoor Pashteen

Tolo News: A jirga gathering of Pashtuns in Bannu city in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan that was held from 11 to 14 of March, called for Loya Jirga and general elections in Afghanistan to elect a representative government. At this four-day long jirga, participants discussed issues impacting Pashtuns and also the situation in Afghanistan. Click here to read more (external link).

Herat Theater Faces Uncertain Future

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Tolo News: Afghan performers and other theater workers in the western province of Herat expressed grave concern over the fate of theater across the province, saying the art is disappearing due to limitations and political changes in the country. Herat theater workers said that many of the theater performers have left Afghanistan and women artists are prohibited from performing. Click here to read more (external link).