Document #1128421
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices for 1994 states:
in 1994 an estimated 8,000 Afghans died in Kabul as a result of the civil war. Most were civilian victims of artillery, rocket, or air strikes launched by forces aligned with Hekmatyar or Rabbani. In many cases civilian deaths were incidental to the military actions of the belligerents, but in some cases combatants purposefully targeted civilian areas (1995, n.p.).
According to Amnesty International
Report 1994,
[d]eliberate and indiscriminate bombings of homes, hospitals and mosques in Kabul left hundreds of people dead and thousands injured, among them children. Members of particular ethnic and religious groups were frequently targeted by various groups (1994, 52).
The report adds that civilians were
reportedly also targeted in attacks in the provinces; dozens of women and children were said to have been deliberately killed by forces of the Jamiat-e-Islami and the Hesb-e-Islami in Argandab near Kandahar in August (ibid.).
A 1994 Amnesty International news release
refers to the "daily killing of dozens of unarmed civilians in jet
bombings, artillery mortar attacks and machine gun battles" in
Afghanistan (28 Oct. 1994). The news release adds that, as a
result, some 12,000 civilians were killed between April 1992 and
October 1994 (ibid.).
Another Amnesty International news release
provides information on the ill-treatment of civilians by various
Afghan Mujahedin groups, including the murder of male civilians and
rape of women and children (15 Dec. 1994).
This response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does
not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular
claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of
sources consulted in researching this information request.
Amnesty International. 15 December 1994.
"Afghanistan: Amnesty International Condemns International
Community for Ignoring Conflict in Afghanistan." (AI Index: ASA
11/WU 07/94). London: Amnesty International.
_____. 28 October 1994. "Afghanistan:
12,00 People Killed Since April 1992 While the International
Community Has Kept Quiet." (AI Index: ASA 11/WU 06/94). London:
Amnesty International.
_____. 1994. Amnesty International
Report 1994. New York: Amnesty International USA.
Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices for 1994. 1995. United States Department of State.
Washington, DC. (electronic version received from Resource Info
Centre, INS, US)
Amnesty International. 15 December 1994.
"Afghanistan: Amnesty International Condemns International
Community for Ignoring Conflict in Afghanistan." (AI Index: ASA
11/WU 07/94). London: Amnesty International.
_____. 28 October 1994. "Afghanistan:
12,00 People Killed Since April 1992 While the International
Community Has Kept Quiet." (AI Index: ASA 11/WU 06/94). London:
Amnesty International.
Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices for 1994. 1995. United States Department of State.
Washington, DC. (electronic version received from Resource Info
Centre, INS, US)