KABUL —
Afghanistan's Taliban government on
Sunday rejected condemnation by Western nations over dozens of alleged
"summary killings" of former security force personnel documented by
rights groups since the Islamists returned to power.
اضافة اعلان
The US, other Western nations and allies on
Saturday said they were "deeply concerned" by allegations by
Human Rights Watch and others that point to "serious human rights abuses".
Alleged summary killings and enforced
disappearances "contradict" an amnesty declared by the Taliban for
former security force personnel after the Islamists defeated a Western-backed
regime and retook control of the country in mid-August, the State Department
said.
The EU, Australia, Britain, Japan and others
also put their names to the statement.
But the Taliban's Interior Ministry on
Sunday rejected both the Western rebuke and rights groups' allegations.
"These reports and claims are not based
on evidences," spokesman
Qari Sayed Khosti said in a video statement
released by the Taliban. "We reject such claims."
"We have some cases where some former
ANDSF members were killed but they have been killed because of personal
rivalries and enmities," he said, referring to the now-defunct Afghan
National Defense and Security Forces.
Many ex-regime security personnel "who
had martyred hundreds of mujahideen and civilians are living peacefully"
in the country on the basis of the general amnesty the Taliban granted, he
added.
'Used screenings to execute'
HRW on November 30 released a report that it
says documents the summary execution or enforced disappearance of 47 former
members of the ANDSF, other military personnel, police and intelligence agents
"who had surrendered to or were apprehended by Taliban forces" from
mid-August through October.
The Taliban's return came some 20 years
after they were driven out by
US forces who toppled a government that earned
outrage for its brutal treatment of women, failure to uphold human rights, and
harsh interpretation of Islam.
Today's Taliban leaders, keen to gain
international respectability, have pledged their regime will be
different.
But in its report HRW said Taliban leaders
have directed surrendering security forces to register with authorities in
order to be screened for ties to certain military or special forces units, and
to receive a letter guaranteeing their safety.
"The Taliban have used these screenings
to detain and summarily execute or forcibly disappear individuals within days
of their registration, leaving their bodies for their relatives or communities
to find," HRW said.
Calling for an investigation into these
incidents, the joint statement released by the State Department said: "We
will continue to measure the Taliban by their actions."
"We underline that the alleged actions
constitute serious human rights abuses and contradict the Taliban's announced
amnesty," the US-led group of nations said, as they called on
Afghanistan's new rulers to ensure the amnesty is enforced and "upheld
across the country and throughout their ranks."
The Taliban demanded that the claims be
backed by evidence.
"If they have documents and evidences
they should share it with us," Khosti said, adding that falsely
"tagging personal enmities" onto actions by the Taliban authorities
"is unjust”.
Washington held talks with Taliban officials
earlier this week, the second round of discussions since US forces left the
country at the end of August.
At the talks, in Doha, US officials urged
the hardline Islamist group to provide access to education for women and girls
across the country.
It also "expressed deep concern
regarding allegations of human rights abuses,” a US spokesman said.
Cut off from billions of dollars in aid
provided to the previous regime, Afghanistan's new rulers — designated
Specially Designated Global Terrorists by the US — are grappling with an
insurgency by a division of Daesh and are struggling to feed millions of people
as winter descends.
Read more Region and World
.jpg)
.jpg)
