A/HRC/22/37 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council decision 2/113 of 27 November 2006 and resolution 14/15 of 18 June 2010 and has been prepared in cooperation with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). Since the last report (A/HRC/19/47), the human rights situation in Afghanistan continues to be challenging, especially given the persistence of the armed conflict. 2. Civilian protection has declined in different parts of the country, even as the process of transitioning lead security responsibility from international military to Afghan National Security forces leadership has advanced throughout the last year. Anti-Government elements (AGEs) increasingly undertook unlawful means of warfare through increased use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), suicide attacks and targeted killings that violated the basic right to life and international humanitarian law principles. Over 50 per cent of all civilian deaths and injuries result from the use of IEDs or tactics that employ these devices, such as suicide attacks. 3. While civilian casualties fell in the first five months of 2012,1 this trend reversed from June, with AGEs increasingly targeting civilian locations and accelerating a campaign of targeted killings of civilians suspected of working for the Government or international military forces. UNAMA/OHCHR documented higher civilian casualties each month from June to November 2012, by the end of which civilian deaths and injuries had increased slightly as compared to the first eleven months of 2011. 4. AGEs were reported to have increased their influence and control in a number of districts in Afghanistan, where they introduced parallel judicial mechanisms carrying out serious human rights abuses with impunity, including executions, amputations, mutilations and severe beatings. Taliban officials threatened, intimidated and abducted residents they considered to be supporters of the Government and imposed illegal taxes on many communities. In some communities, AGEs restricted access to health care, including by disrupting polio awareness and vaccination campaigns, although overall attacks against schools and hospitals decreased significantly during 2012. 5. At the same time, there has been a marked reduction in civilian casualties resulting from security operations involving pro-Government forces (PGF). In a welcome move, the Government appointed a special advisor to the President on protection of civilians and established the Civilian Casualty Tracking Team in the Presidential Information Coordination Centre. Civilian casualties of ground engagement between PGFs and AGEs reduced by 24 per cent, while civilian casualties arising from targeted killings by insurgents doubled compared to the same period in 2011, with 638 civilians killed and 357 injured. While improved safeguards appear to have contributed to a significant reduction in civilian casualties resulting from PGF operations, efforts must be sustained and increased to ensure improved protection for civilians. It should be noted that 11 per cent of civilian casualties could not be attributed to any party to the conflict in 2012. 6. Civilian deaths and injuries and actions deemed to be against Islamic principles continue to be the focus of demonstrations and protests against the presence of international military forces in Afghanistan. In response to the inappropriate handling of the Holy Koran at the Bagrame military base on 21 February 2012, protests and demonstrations erupted throughout Afghanistan. While a large number of protests were spontaneous and peaceful, 1 4 UNAMA, Afghanistan Mid-Year Report 2012: Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, (Kabul, 2012).