Reliable sources describe the situation of prisoners in Taliban prisons in Herat province as shocking. According to them, in this prison, in addition to the buying and selling of narcotics, some imprisoned children are also subjected to sexual abuse by Taliban members, while children over seven years old are held in this prison on charges of theft. Prisoners also express concern about bribery by Taliban judges and the forced sale of narcotics by members of this group inside the prison. According to them, in one case, a young man committed suicide after being released from Taliban prison, and in a letter he left behind, he wrote that he could not bear the suffering he endured in prison. Also, one of the Taliban officials in this group’s prison in Herat has confessed that from the proceeds of selling narcotics in this prison, he has married three times.
One of the individuals who has closely observed the situation of Taliban prisons in Herat, in an interview with the Hasht-e Subh Daily, says that his observations are concerning, and due to fear of the Taliban, no one dares to speak about the conditions inside this group’s prisons after being released from prison. According to him, Taliban judges do not handle any case without receiving bribes.
This Herat resident says: “As long as bribes are not paid to Taliban judges, no attention is given to files and cases whatsoever. For example, one person had a fight with a grape seller while buying grapes, but he remained in prison for six months without any resolution, and no one handled his case until he was forced to pay money to Taliban judges.”
This person, who has closely witnessed the prison situation, says: “The number of people under 18 years old in Herat prison is very high; children aged 11 or 12, even 7 to 8 years old, have been imprisoned on charges of theft and they are subjected to various types of abuse.”
This Herat resident, who has refrained from providing more details about his identity due to security threats, adds: “What is very disturbing is the sale of narcotics inside the prison. Taliban soldiers sell these substances to prisoners at exorbitant prices. While upon entering the prison, every effort is made and no one is allowed to bring anything with them, because everything exists inside the prison, but it is sold at very expensive prices.”
Meanwhile, a source who asked for anonymity in the report says: “One of the Taliban soldiers who sells narcotics inside the prison has confessed that with the money earned from selling these substances, alongside his first wife, he has also taken three other women.”
This source adds: “Many of the young people who are now in prison had never even smoked cigarettes in their entire lives before arrest, but now they have become addicted to hashish, opium, and heroin. In this prison, anything you want is sold, but no one dares to share this reality with their family or people outside the prison.”
The source who has heard prisoners’ accounts and spoken with them says: “If a prisoner cannot afford to buy substances, he is usually pressured in such a way that his mind becomes disturbed and he enters into conflict. After creating conflict, he is kept in solitary confinement for 15 days, subjected to torture, and ultimately forced to accept the Taliban’s demands. Unfortunately, in this process, many prisoners are also subjected to abuse.”
The source also adds that the mother of one of the imprisoned children told him that out of fear of sexual abuse, she was forced to transfer her son from one section to another, but she is still not sure that he is safe in that section either. According to her, she cannot pay bribes, and for this reason, the Taliban do not handle her son’s case.
Also, several prisoners who committed suicide after release had bitter and painful accounts of their imprisonment period. After freedom, they found the suffering and problems they had endured in prison unbearable and ultimately ended their lives.
Reliable sources say that in one case, a young man who intended to go to one of Herat city’s restaurants for a meal with a girl he planned to marry was arrested by the Taliban. This girl and young man were each imprisoned by the Taliban for one year. According to sources, after his release, this young man committed suicide. These sources add that his family confirmed that their child had become addicted to narcotics in Taliban prison in Herat and committed suicide one week after release.
Sources confirm, quoting members of this young man’s family, that when they found out he had become addicted in prison, they did not send him money. They say that a letter from this young man was left behind, in which he wrote: “I cannot bear this shame of what happened to me in prison. We know that no one commits suicide just because of financial need, unless they have been subjected to sexual abuse or other abuses. Unfortunately, these issues are very common in Herat prison.”
Many prisoners and their families in Herat continue to describe a Taliban judge named “Khan Mohammad Hanafi” as the biggest bribe-taker and say that without paying bribes, he does not listen to anyone, and when he receives money, he promises that no one else can deal with the released prisoner.
A reliable source says: “Taliban judges impose their demands on prisoners, especially Judge Khan Mohammad Hanafi. If you talk to him about money, he listens to you, fulfills all your demands, and promises the prisoner that if you pay this amount of money, no one else can arrest you. Many of those behind prison gates wish to eliminate him. He is so ill-tempered that tolerating him is very difficult.”
This source also claims that the situation in Herat women’s prison is much more horrific and painful than men’s prison. According to him, women in this prison are sexually assaulted by the Taliban, but they remain silent due to fear of “disgrace.” He says, “Those who are raped in prison cannot even tell their families about this matter so as not to be disgraced, and they endure all the pain and suffering alone.”
Meanwhile, some prisoners inside the prison have asked external media to report on the prison situation so that these conditions reach the ears of senior Taliban officials, and the prison situation is examined closely and without distortion or incorrect reporting by guards and people involved in selling narcotics and abusing prisoners.
Previously, The Guardian newspaper had reported in a report that some homeless women in Kabul who were arrested on charges of begging due to the Taliban’s strict laws have reported rape, torture, and murder in prisons. These arrested women confirmed to The Guardian that they were subjected to sexual assault, torture, forced labor, and abuse in prisons. Some of them also witnessed the beating and abuse of children.
One of these women, using the pseudonym Zahra, said that after her arrest, she was forced to do housework for Taliban prison guards, and after resisting fingerprinting, she was beaten and then raped.
Also, one of the women using the pseudonym Parwana told The Guardian that she was held in Badam Bagh prison for 15 days and was raped there. She also reported witnessing the death of two children in prison due to severe beatings.
This is while the Taliban do not allow human rights and civil institutions to visit their prisons, and the majority of prisoners do not have access to defense lawyers and other legal services, and many of them spend months in uncertainty in this group’s prisons without having a specific case, without their charges being specifie,d or a file being arranged for their imprisonment.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
فروش مواد مخدر و اتهام سوءاستفاده جنسی؛ در زندان طالبان در هرات چه میگذرد؟
