Taliban officials refill Afghan prisons with fresh inmates

KABUL (Khaama Press): Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, the de facto authorities have detained more than 29,000 Afghans including men and women for alleged crimes.
Over the past 18 months, Afghanistan’s Islamic Emirate authorities have refilled prisons with 29,000 inmates including men and women alleged of different crimes including theft, kidnapping, murder, and moral crimes according to the country’s top prison official.
“We have released some 15,000 inmates in the recent past. Currently, there are approximately 14,000 inmates in Afghanistan jails,” according to Mohammad Yusuf Mistari, the Taliban’s director of prisons.
Taliban’s claim to have no political prisoners has not been confirmed by independent organizations and human rights groups. According to Anonymous sources, hundreds of servicemen and security personnel of the previous government have been persecuted, put behind bars, or even killed to death by the country’s ruling regime.
On the contrary, the Taliban states that all the prisoners are held on criminal charges, not a very convincing claim regarding the number of people put in prisons.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch say that the Taliban have opted to kill the criminals affiliated with opposition armed groups or Islamic Militants rather than putting them behind bars. This can be considered a human rights violation according to the independent source.
Furthermore, Various forms of torture have been widely practiced at formal and informal detention centers and jails in Afghanistan, according to UNAMA and various rights groups. According to the rights group, extra-judicial practices are conducted under the ruling regime, which also is a violation of human rights.
The Taliban have restarted practicing public execution after several decrees were issued by the group’s Supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada in November.
Since then, more than 100 men and women have been publicly punished across Afghanistan, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
The UN agency closely monitors human rights in the country.