The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) and the Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization (AHRDO) on Wednesday slammed the Afghan government for the way it dealt with Uprising for Change movement protesters in Kabul, saying the crackdown against them was illegal and uncivilized.

The AIHRC said government used violence as a means to deal with protesters, and warned that such an approach will create serious challenges for President Ashraf Ghani.

“The way the protesters were calling for justice was not appropriate and government also committed mistakes against the protesters; several people were killed and wounded here,” said Lal Gul Lal, head of AHRDO.

At least two protesters were killed and five others wounded during a clash with security forces in downtown Kabul in the early hours of Tuesday morning when Afghan security forces tried to disperse the protesters and dismantle their tent in Shar-e-Now.  

“The government’s approach is totally illegal; the human rights commission is very distressed about it. The government should have dealt with the protesters through peaceful means, but not by using guns,” said AIHRC commissionor Musa Mahmudi.

There has however been speculation that a number of political leaders backed the protesters. However, there has been no reaction by political leaders over the death on Tuesday of the protesters.

Meanwhile, the office of the CEO has said that government asked on a few occasions to hold talks with the protesters, but they failed to  respond.

“We tried to settle the problems through negotiations. We negotiated several times with the help of parliament as people also wanted the same, but what has happened on the ground is not acceptable and a delegation will investigate the issue and legal action will be taken against the officials,” said deputy CEO spokesman Jawed Faisal.

Protesters have been holding a sit-in demonstration in the city since early this month after protesting against the lack of security in the country following the May 31 truck bombing in Kabul that killed over 150 people.