Purple Saturdays Movement Demands Trial of Taliban Leaders for War Crimes in Panjshir

This resolution about the publication of a report by Amnesty International one year ago today, titled "Your Sons Are in the Mountains: Collective Punishment of Civilians in Panjshir by the Taliban." In this report, released on June 8, 2023, Amnesty International confirmed that the Taliban committed war crimes in Panjshir, including executions, extrajudicial detentions, torture, hostage-taking, and raids on civilian homes.

The movement stated that despite Amnesty International's call at the time for an "immediate cessation of deliberate targeting of civilians in Panjshir" by the Taliban and Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur, emphasizing the need for urgent action during his visit to Panjshir, "a year has passed since the publication of this report and the Taliban's war crimes in Panjshir."

According to the resolution, the Taliban have not only disregarded Amnesty International's demands but have also intensified and systematized their crimes in Panjshir by imposing a suffocating siege and collective punishment on the local population. They arbitrarily detain, torture, insult, and humiliate women, men, and young boys across the province.

The Purple Saturdays Movement, in its resolution, called on international organizations to end the culture of impunity in Afghanistan and bring Taliban leaders, particularly Sirajuddin Haqqani, to justice. The movement stressed that the lack of legal accountability has emboldened the Taliban, leading them to commit more crimes in various parts of Afghanistan, especially in the north of the country.

The movement added that the Afghan people expected and continue to expect the UN Security Council to take practical steps to prosecute Taliban leaders based on the findings of Amnesty International and Richard Bennett's report.

The movement also urged the international community not to remove the Taliban from the list of terrorist groups and to impose stricter travel bans on Taliban members.

In the resolution, the Purple Saturdays Movement also called on the Afghan people to not remain silent against sexual assaults, looting of property, and the seizure of homes by the Taliban and urged the international community to support an alternative to the self-proclaimed Taliban government, which would be a legitimate, democratic, and decentralized system.