Amnesty International Monday urged the UN Human Rights Council to take action on the deteriorating human rights situation in Afghanistan. The organisation is particularly concerned about targeted executions and arbitrary arrests of critics of the Taliban’s abusive regime.

Amnesty International proposed the use of a fact-finding mechanism to investigate human rights violations carried out by the Taliban government and said the UN should establish an “independent investigative mechanism” mandated to establish the facts and circumstances relating to allegations of crimes under international law. The mechanism will further identify potential perpetrators and collect, consolidate, preserve and analyze evidence for future international justice.

Commenting on this mechanism, Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard said:

While the Special Rapporteur continues to do valuable work under extremely difficult conditions, more is now required to meet the enormous challenge of documenting and recording human rights abuses in Afghanistan. The creation of a fact-finding mission is essential, with a focus on the collection and preservation of evidence to ensure justice is delivered.

The Taliban promised to protect human rights when it came to power in Afghanistan in August 2021. However, the regime has conducted grave violations of human rights, including attacks against civilians, discrimination against women and ethnic minorities and arbitrary arrests which often result in death. The UN has previously called for the promotion of women’s rights and the end of violence against women in Afghanistan.