The United Nations has initiated a forensic examination into mass graves peppered throughout Afghanistan at the request of the government there. Some graves in eastern Afghanistan contain over 1,200 victims. Specialists from various human rights groups, including the Washington based Physicians for Human Rights, have been providing technical assistance to the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). Afghanistan made requests for assistance because it lacks the technical and professional capacity to examine the thousands of remains found in various mass graves throughout the country. UNAMA officials have stated they will provide Afghans with funding and granting any requests for assistance, stating; “We are an assistance mission and will provide assistance whenever the Afghan authorities ask us.”
In a little over a year, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) have uncovered 81 mass graves in various parts of the country. Thousands of bodies were unearthed in a grave north of the Afghan capital, Kabul in July, 2007. The remains of 500 victims were unearthed in April of this year in northeastern Afghanistan, and over 1,000 were discovered in a mass grave in eastern Afghanistan. Smaller sites containing 50 to 70 bodies were discovered in several locations in Kabul.
At some sites, victims were found in various states. One group of victims were discovered fully clothed and in sitting positions in abandoned underground weapons depots. Many sites were allegedly used by the former Soviet Union, according to witnesses. At one site, Afghan villagers have stated that Soviet officials used some of the grave sites for interrogations and investigations against suspected mujahadeen – or 'strugglers’. Others state that Soviet officials detained thousands of villagers in an effort to root out the mujahadeen, some leaving for Friday prayers never to be seen again. The allegations have not been verified.
The president of Afghanistan, Hamid Harzai, has appointed a commission to investigate the atrocities. Afghanistan has been embroiled in conflict for almost three decades. The victims from the mass graves are a symbol of Afghanistan's volatile past – but it is not known from when.
