During 48 days of imprisonment in the Taliban Intelligence Directorate in Daykundi Province and three months in the Taliban’s Intelligence Directorate 40 in Kabul, they urinated on my face several times. They administered electric shocks to me over a hundred times and used contaminated water hoses to empty my stomach. Several times, they hung me by my feet for 24 hours. They frequently suspended me by my hands, and when they brought me down, I felt as if my arms had been detached from my body. At the same time, my body writhed in pain like a wounded snake. They pulled out my nails with pliers and broke several of my teeth with punches and kicks. After the night prayer, they consistently whipped me with wooden sticks and electric cables for an hour. I would lose consciousness under the torture, and when I regained consciousness, they would pour cold water on my face. When I woke up, the torturers urinated on my face again and resumed the torture until they became exhausted and stopped. Sometimes, they poured hot water over my head.
These bitter and terrifying memories belong to a former officer of the Afghan National Army who was released from the Taliban’s captivity a few months ago after two years in prison. Due to fear of returning to prison and being tortured again, he has refused to reveal his name in the report and has chosen a pseudonym. This former soldier says the Taliban forced him to sign a written and video commitment that if he spoke to the media, he would be killed, and his relatives and dependents would also be tortured.
Esmat (pseudonym) says that after nearly 20 months of torture in the Taliban’s prison, he is no longer able to walk and has developed multiple illnesses, including diabetes and high blood pressure. His hearing and memory have severely deteriorated, and he suffers from skin allergies. Esmat adds that he cannot digest food properly, experiences nightmares at night, and suffers from psychological problems.
At the same time, one of Esmat’s family members says that due to the severity of the torture, he has lost his mental stability and has become extremely irritable and aggressive, whereas he was previously kind, friendly, cheerful, and humorous. This individual adds that Esmat has changed drastically compared to two years ago. According to him, Esmat now becomes agitated at the slightest interaction, starts shouting, and then cries like a child. He further states that due to the torture and inflicted injuries, Esmat’s spine has been severely damaged, and he has lost control over his bladder.
Esmat served in the army in Helmand, Kandahar, and Kabul provinces. After the Taliban’s takeover, he lived in hiding for some time. Despite persistent pleas from his friends and relatives to leave Afghanistan, he refused and continued living in Daykundi Province. Esmat says he wanted to return to his normal life and engage in agricultural work. He adds that the Taliban’s intelligence forces arrested him from the market in Nili, the capital of Daykundi Province, and imprisoned him.
The former soldier says that for 20 days, the Taliban continuously tortured him without presenting any charges, and no plea or request could persuade the Taliban torturers to stop. He adds that after more than 20 days, the Taliban Intelligence Directorate accused him of hiding weapons and ammunition, collaborating with the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), and transporting Taliban opponents out of the country. However, he claims he did not know about such activities.
Esmat says that at least two months before the fall of the previous government, he had taken leave due to family problems, returned all military equipment to the relevant authorities, and carried his leave permit and equipment receipt with him. However, these documents held no value to the Taliban. He adds, “From the Taliban’s perspective, Hazaras are considered heretics and infidels. Torturing and tormenting me was a source of pleasure for them. There is no NRF in Daykundi. All these accusations are tools to eliminate their opponents, especially the Hazara and Tajik people.”
The former soldier says that after 48 days of torture in Daykundi, the Taliban transferred him to Kabul. He adds that before being put into the vehicle, black bags were placed over his head, causing him to choke due to lack of air. The Taliban fighters then punched and kicked him, insulted him, briefly loosened the bag’s strap, and then tightened it again. According to him, the Taliban did not give him food or water during the transfer from Daykundi to Kabul.
Esmat says that he endured five months of severe torture in the Taliban’s prisons in Daykundi and Directorate 40 in Kabul. He adds, “The underground prisons of the Taliban Intelligence Directorate in Daykundi and the torture chambers of Directorate 40 in Shash Darak area of Kabul are beyond human imagination. The tortures inflicted there are such that no human could inflict them on another human. All prisoners in Daykundi are Hazaras. In Directorate 40, there are Hazaras and Tajiks, including women, children, and adults. They are imprisoned on various charges, such as spying for foreigners, propaganda against the Taliban, and collaboration with the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan.”
The former soldier adds that Taliban fighters in Daykundi and Kabul urinated on his face several times. He says that before taking prisoners to separate rooms for interrogation, the Taliban urinated on their faces in front of other prisoners. He says, “Taliban torturers and interrogation officials in the Taliban Intelligence Directorate in Daykundi and Directorate 40 in Kabul repeatedly called me a Hazara heretic, Hazara infidel, and Hazara impure, and told them to urinate on their faces like infidels.”
Esmat says that several children, adults, and youths died in Directorate 40 of the Taliban’s Intelligence Directorate due to repeated torture. He adds that during his imprisonment, he witnessed many prisoners die, with their semi-lifeless bodies being taken out of solitary cells, never to return.
This former Taliban prisoner says he saw a young boy around 17-18 years old hung by his feet for a whole day and night. When the boy was brought down, he had died. He adds that the Taliban even tortured the boy’s corpse, saying, “He’s just dead.”
Esmat also recounts that the Taliban’s intelligence forces use brutal methods to extract forced confessions from prisoners, such as pulling out nails, inserting hot rods into the spine, and pushing needles into the genital orifice. Their goal is to force prisoners to accept the charges brought against them.
The former military personnel says that torture agents at the Taliban’s Intelligence Directorate in Daykundi and the group’s 40th Directorate in Kabul use a specific type of carpet for torture. First, the individual is wrapped in this carpet and then repeatedly beaten with cables and metal rods. This method causes the torture marks to not be visibly apparent on the body, but it results in severe internal pain and bone fractures.
Meanwhile, the British media outlet Daily Mail recently reported that the Taliban may punish individuals who have not even committed any crimes. The newspaper has reviewed some flogging and execution incidents carried out by the Taliban over the past three years. According to the report, the Taliban have implemented severe punishments, including stoning, public flogging, collapsing walls on suspects, and executions by firing squad.
You can read the Persian version of this daily report here:
کشیدن ناخن و شاشیدن به صورت؛ وضعیت نظامیان پیشین در زندانهای طالبان | روزنامه ۸صبح
