News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International 23 January 2001, AFA 11/001/2001:
Afghanistan: summary execution of civilians in Yakaolang
Amnesty International today condemned the summary execution of
scores of Afgan civilians by Taleban forces after their capture
of the district of Yakaolang in December 2000. The victims, all
male and as young as 13 years of age, are thought to number
between 100 and 300. Most of the killings reportedly took place
in villages around Nayak, and were accompanied by mass arrests.
"This brutal treatment of civilians simply has to end,"
the human rights organization said. "These deeply disturbing
reports once again underline the need for action by the
international community to ensure protection of the civilian
population in Afghanistan."
The executions followed the recapture of Yakaolang from
the anti-Taleban Hezb-e Wahdat party in fierce fighting in
December 2000. It is thought that the latest reported executions
are in retaliation for Taleban losses in the course of their
conquest of the district. A Taleban commander is alleged to have
ordered his forces to kill all men between the ages of 13 and 70
whom they consider to be anti-Taleban.
Hezb-e Wahdat claims support from the Hazara ethnic group
in Afganistan. On a number of occasions the Taleban are reported
to have carried out massacres of the Hazara population - as well
as burning their homes, arresting men and boys and confiscating
their land and other belongings. Control of the region has passed
back and forth between the two factions in the course of the
fighting.
Whilst in control of the district Hezb-e Wahdat fighters
are reported to have treated with brutality those they considered
to have collaborated with the Taleban.
Scores of Hazara civilians are reported to have been the
targets of systematic killings by Taleban guards arriving in
Yakaoland following a previous conquest in May 1999. In addition,
hundreds of men, and in a few instances women and children, were
reportedly separated from their families by the Taleban forces
and to date there has been no news of their whereabouts.
Amnesty International condemns human rights abuses by all
warring factions in Afghanistan and is reiterating its call to
the international community to set up an international body with
a clearly demonstrated independent, impartial and competent
structure to investigate all reports of massacres with a view to
establishing the facts, identifying the perpetrators and
recommending means of bringing them to justice.
With regard to these latest human rights abuses, Amnesty
International:
Urges the Taleban to abide by the principles of international
humanitarian law which forbid the killing of, and other human
rights abuses against, the civilian population.
Urges the Taleban to remove from active service any of their
members who are implicated in human rights abuses, and facilitate
an investigation of their conduct by an independent, impartial
and competent body.
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