Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) on Thursday called for the prosecution of war criminals and violators of human rights including Zardad Faryadi.

Zardad Faryadi, a former Hizb-e-Islami commander, arrived back in Kabul on Wednesday after serving more than 10 years in a U.K prison on charges of torture and human rights violations.

The AIHRC warned against the culture of impunity in Afghanistan, and criticized government’s lack of political will to address the problem in the country.

Joining the human rights commission, meanwhile a number of civil society activists also called for Zardad to be tried over his alleged involvement in violation of human rights.

“Human rights has been systematically violated in Afghanistan, … we must serve justice on an equal basis and deal with cases related to human rights violations and war crimes seriously,” said AIHRC chief executive Musa Mahmoudi.

“With consideration of Zardad’s involvement in major crimes, he must face severe punishment in line with the law,” said civil society activist Humaira Saqib.

“Those who have committed crimes in the past whether it was related to the killing of people, crimes or aggression must be prosecuted. Our demand is that justice must prevail and certain cases of crimes must be investigated,” said civil society activist Aziz Rafaee.

Zardad  fled Afghanistan in the late 1990s but was spotted in London in mid-2001 after charges were brought against him. He was convicted in 2005 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was deported back to Afghanistan on Wednesday.