Responding to the reported executions of over 100 former Afghan security officials by the Taliban, the US, EU and 20 other countries have released a joint statement condemning the killings.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) report notes that whilst the Taliban had agreed to provide amnesty to surrounding security forces; they had used screening "to detain and summarily execute or forcibly disappear individuals within days of their registration, leaving their bodies for their relatives or communities to find". Their report notes that over 100 former members of the Afghan security forces have been killed or forcibly disappeared in the provinces of Ghazni, Helmand, Kunduz and Kandahar provinces.
The joint statement called on the Taliban "to effectively enforce the amnesty for former members of the Afghan security forces and former Government officials to ensure that it is upheld across the country and throughout their ranks". These countries further urged for prompt and transparent investigations into the reported killings.
Among the listed countries are Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and Ukraine.
Whilst the Taliban had announced commissions that would inquire into human rights abuses, corruption, theft and other crimes, no investigations have been inquiring into these killings.
“The Taliban’s unsupported claims that they will act to prevent abuses and hold abusers to account appears, so far, to be nothing more than a public relations stunt,” it said.
Thus far, no country has officially recognised the Taliban government yet and billions of dollars in Afghan assets and funds abroad have been frozen.
Read the full joint statement here.
