Charges Unclear As Trial In Taliban’s Court Underway For Ex-Afghan MP Allah Gul Mujahid

The torture methods reported include electric shocks, suffocation, drowning, and genital abuse.

The majority of the deceased were former military personnel, members of the National Resistance Front, and social activists opposing the Taliban.

Last year, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) conducted an investigation into the conditions in Taliban prisons. The UN report highlighted the use of severe torture techniques, including electric shocks, suffocation, pressure, threats, forced water ingestion, physical beatings, and other forms of severe pain.

Newly disclosed information indicates that Khalid Hikmat, a former Taliban intelligence officer with ties to al-Qaeda, was involved in the torture and deaths of prisoners.

Notably, Golestan, a Kapisa resident arrested two years ago, died under torture while in Taliban custody. His family’s petition led to revelations that Khalid Hikmat, formerly head of Taliban Intelligence Department 65, was responsible for his death.

Hikmat, who was involved in relocating al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri to Kabul, was recently arrested, briefly detained, and subsequently released and relocated to Pakistan.

Hikmat reportedly admitted, in the presence of Taliban intelligence officials, to the torture and killing of prisoners whom he accused of spreading anti-Taliban propaganda.

Additionally, Khalil Hamrar, another Taliban intelligence official, has been implicated in similar abuses. Reports suggest that Arash, and Ali, both from West Kabul, were tortured to death under Hamrar’s orders for allegedly disseminating anti-Taliban content on social media.

Hamrar had also planned to eliminate Imad Dawran, a poet and former government employee, but refrained from doing so after the case became public.

Following the increase in torture-related deaths, Abdul Haq Wasiq, head of Taliban intelligence, initiated an informal investigation that confirmed the deaths of 87 individuals due to torture.

UNAMA’s report from September 20, 2023, highlighted widespread human rights violations in Taliban prisons, with nearly 50% involving torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment.

The report pointed out that such abuses were prevalent during arrests and within detention facilities under the Ministry of Interior and Taliban intelligence.

The Taliban have provided conflicting figures regarding the number of prisoners. Recently, the head of the Taliban’s prison administration stated that there are approximately ten thousand prisoners in the group's facilities.

The court stated that the accused was sentenced to two years and six months of imprisonment and 39 lashes.

The Taliban has not disclosed the identity of the accused.

According to the group's statement, several Taliban officials and local people were present during the punishment of the woman.

The Taliban frequently announces public floggings, sometimes even on a daily basis.

United Nations officials and human rights organisations have repeatedly called on the Taliban to stop corporal punishment, but the group has ignored these requests.

Human rights organisations say there is no standard mechanism for ensuring access to justice for the accused within the Taliban's judicial system.

The Taliban's court in Maidan Wardak sentenced each of the accused to 39 lashes and three years in prison.

Abdullah Furqani, the head of the local Taliban court, claimed that floggings have significantly reduced crime rates in the country.

Previously, on Wednesday, the Taliban’s Supreme Court had also announced that a man and a woman were flogged in Kabul for having sexual relations outside of marriage. The court stated that the woman received 32 lashes and the man received 39 lashes.

Over the past three years, international human rights organisations have consistently urged the Taliban to halt corporal punishments. However, the Taliban has said that it will continue to impose punishments according to Islamic "Sharia" law.

Human rights organisations have reported that principles of fair trial are not upheld in Taliban prisons and courts.

A human rights organisation called Rawadari stated in a research report that the Taliban courts exhibit discriminatory decisions, torture, coerced confessions, and lack of independence and impartiality, with the presumption of innocence being violated.

According to the report, this request followed revelations that nearly $300 million in US aid may have ended up in the hands of the Taliban.

Previously, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) reported that two State Department bureaus failed to prove their compliance with counterterrorism vetting.

Two days ago, Senator Mike Braun sent a letter to Blinken calling the report "deeply alarming" and requested that US aid to Afghanistan be halted until the issue is addressed.

Braun added that the State Department's failure to adhere to anti-terrorism inspection standards "has strengthened and enriched the Taliban and its terrorist affiliates”.

He also emphasised that when funds intended for humanitarian and developmental purposes end up supporting terrorism and perpetuating violence and instability, it undermines US national security.

"It is imperative that the State take immediate remedial and comprehensive action to rectify these issues to prevent similar occurrences in the future”, said Braun.

This request to halt US aid to Afghanistan comes amid a SIGAR report stating that the US has provided approximately $21 billion in aid to Afghanistan over the past three years.

SIGAR noted that this aid was allocated for humanitarian assistance, development projects, the transfer and resettlement of refugees from Afghanistan to the US, and the repayment of Afghanistan's foreign assets.

The SIGAR report claimed that the Taliban has not acted against opium reserves in Afghanistan, leading to a doubling of the drug's price.

The Taliban claimed that since their return to power, drug cultivation, sale, and trafficking have been eliminated for the first time in decades.

The group’s Ministry of Interior stated, "The latest SIGAR report is baseless. For the first time in several decades, the phenomenon of drugs has been eradicated across the country."

The Taliban's Ministry of Interior also emphasised that no one would be permitted to cultivate poppy.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime confirmed in its latest report that while poppy cultivation has decreased, the production and sale of synthetic drugs like methamphetamine have increased.

SIGAR accused the Taliban of failing to address existing opium reserves in Afghanistan. The organisation reported that traders and farmers are involved in storing opium and inflating its price. SIGAR noted that while poppy cultivation has decreased, the value of opium has doubled since the ban on poppy cultivation was enacted.

The Daily Telegraph previously reported that Afghan farmers are covertly cultivating poppies in response to rising narcotic prices. According to the Telegraph, the price of opium has surged from £30 per kilo to £800-£1,000 since the Taliban's takeover, with some senior Taliban officials reportedly benefiting from this increase.

Taliban officials, speaking anonymously to the British newspaper, suggested that the ban on poppy cultivation might be aimed at raising opium prices, thereby enabling officials with hidden opium reserves and secret poppy fields to "accumulate more wealth”.

SIGAR, which does not have an office in Afghanistan, compiled its report based on findings from other organisations, including the United Nations.