In its annual report released yesterday, Amnesty International documented human rights abuses in 142 countries and territories, including the abused committed by Afghanistan's Taliban regime.
According to Amnesty, the Taliban massacred thousands of civilians and tortured thousands more in 1998. The report documented the Taliban's attacks surrounding Mazar-e-Sharif, where Taliban guards "deliberately and systematically killed thousands of ethnic Hazara civilians." It also recorded the lives of thousands killed "deliberately and arbitrarily" by various warring factions and noted that more than 1,000 people lives were taken by land mines.
Amnesty International also charged the Taliban with detailing and torturing Hazara, Tajik, Uzbek and Panjsheri men and boys. "Almost all prisoners detained on suspicion of opposing the Taliban were reported to have been tortured or ill-treated," read the report.
Regarding the Taliban's treatment of women, Amnesty wrote "Tens of thousands of women effectively remained prisoners in their homes. Fears of punishment prevents tens of thousands of women from seeking education and employment or leaving home without a close male relative."
Women and men caught defying the Taliban's harsh edicts were publicly humiliated and beaten by officers of the Department for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. Other punishments included eight floggings, fourteen public amputations, and ten public executions .
5/22/2013 Immigration Reform Bill Advances In Senate - Last night, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a sweeping immigration reform bill in a bipartisan vote of 13 to 5. . . .
5/22/2013 Afghan Women Arrested for 'Moral Crimes' Increases 50% - A new report by the Human Rights Watch shows that in the past 18 months the number of women in Afghanistan incarcerated for 'moral crimes' has increased from 400 to 600, a 50% growth.
Many of the women imprisoned for moral crimes were arrested running away from forced or abusive marriages and families, even though there is no law against leaving. . . .
5/22/2013 Army Commander Suspended for Adultery Amid Wave of Sexual Assaults - On Tuesday, Brigadier General Bryan T Roberts was suspended from his position as commander of the Fort Jackson, South Carolina training camp which trains approximately 60% of incoming female recruits pending an investigation into allegations of adultery.
Roberts was suspended following allegations of "adultery and a physical altercation." Colonel Christian Kubik, an Army spokesperson for the Training and Doctrine Command, told reporters "We don't have any evidence of any sexual assault. . . .
