Salzburger Tageblatt - Afghanistan war victims left 'without justice', UN says

The US launched a military intervention in Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001, attacks, ushering in two decades of conflict in which civilians suffered widespread violence and abuses.

More than 40,000 civilians were killed and 77,000 wounded in attacks by Taliban insurgents, the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group and also during operations by the armed forces of the Afghan Republic or the international coalition led by the United States, the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said.

The UN mission has documented civilian casualties since 2009 in one of the most exhaustive studies on victims of the 2001-2021 war.

Tapa-e-Shuhada (Martyrs' Hill) in Kabul bears witness to part of the tragedy. One of its slopes is covered with graves, many belonging to members of the Hazara community, which was repeatedly targeted in attacks by the Taliban insurgents and IS.

One gravestone visited by AFP in late August belongs to bespectacled 21-year-old Suhaila, who died in an attack at Kabul University.

Another is in memory of Muhammad Hadi, 17, who lost his life in an October 2020 attack claimed by IS against a school preparing students for university entrance exams.

Mohammad, 25, was wounded in the same school attack. From a modest family, he dreamt of becoming a computer engineer to "change his life", he told AFP, withholding his surname because "the fear is still there".

He now works off and on as a tailor. "I have lost my focus," he said. "I couldn't continue my studies because of psychological problems."

"The world has forgotten us," he added.

In their small living room, his mother sighs: "He still has nightmares at night, and I am getting weaker day by day."

From memory loss to depression and suicidal thoughts, 95 percent of the nearly 200 victims interviewed by UNAMA "experienced psychological harm".

- 'No one listened' –

In Logar province, south of Kabul, 46-year-old farmer Khan Yousufi recounts how his eight-year-old son was playing in front of the house when an Afghan Republic police tank opened fire, killing him instantly.

"My wife rushed toward her child; they shot her too," gravely wounding her, he added, tears rolling down his cheeks.

He filed complaints with authorities under the former Republic and "tried so hard" to get justice, but "no one listened".

He has had no more success since the Taliban authorities returned to power.

"If the person who did this had been brought to justice, it would prevent someone else from inflicting the same suffering on others... because people would know that there is justice," Yousufi said.

Most of the victims interviewed who attempted to obtain justice "were unsuccessful", UNAMA said.

An action plan for "Peace, Reconciliation and Justice" was launched in 2006 but "never fully implemented", the UN recalled.

The 2020 US-Taliban peace deal provided for intra-Afghan talks but, "did not include any specific provisions for victims' rights, justice or accountability", it added.

– 'Limited resources' –

After returning to power, the Taliban authorities passed an amnesty law and have shown no public intent to prosecute wartime violations of humanitarian law, UNAMA said.

"Domestic and international efforts to hold perpetrators accountable have been limited and faced numerous barriers," it concluded.

This year, a former Australian special forces officer was charged with war crimes in Afghanistan, but the trial still seems far off.

In 2022, a Dutch court ordered the Netherlands to compensate the relatives of victims of a deadly airstrike in Afghanistan in 2007 that was deemed unlawful.

A British independent inquiry opened in 2022 is still ongoing and the report does not mention any prosecution in the US.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) opened an investigation on the conflict in Afghanistan. However, the prosecutor later narrowed its focus to alleged crimes by the Taliban and IS, because of "limited resources" and "the gravity and continuing nature of the crimes", it told AFP.

"What makes victims of crimes committed by the Taliban or the Islamic State better so that they get justice rather than the victims of the US and international forces?" asked Refik Hodzic, transitional justice adviser at the European Institute of Peace.

Campaigners say truth and reconciliation commissions like in South Africa after apartheid or reparations can also bring some justice.

The Taliban government told UNAMA they have distributed $695 million to families of martyrs, widows and orphans since 2021.

Yousufi, the farmer from Logar, would like help so his wife can receive better treatment.

Mohammad dreams of a scholarship and support for former students like him, "so that we can recover our hopes".

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