Taliban authorities reported Tuesday that they had dissolved Afghanistan’s independent human rights commission as “not considered necessary.”
Since Islamist hardliners took power in August, they have shut down several agencies protecting Afghan freedoms, including the electoral commission and the women’s affairs ministry.
“We have some other organizations to carry out activities related to human rights, organizations that are linked to the judiciary,” deputy government spokesman Inamulá Samangani said.
The commission’s work, which included documenting civilian victims of Afghanistan’s two-decade war, was halted when the Taliban toppled the US-backed government and the body’s officials fled the country.
The national security council and a peace-promoting reconciliation council were also closed over the weekend as the government announced its first annual budget.
“These departments are not considered necessary, so they have been dissolved. But in the future, if they are necessary, they will be able to resume their operations,” Samangani said.
The Taliban face a financial shortfall of about 44 billion Afghanis (about $500 million).
They had promised a more moderate government than that of their first regime, from 1996 to 2001, but they were eroding the freedoms of many Afghans, especially women, who face restrictions on education, work and clothing.