Two videos showing the torture of children have recently provoked a strong reaction on social media. In one of them, shared with the Hasht-e Subh Daily by local sources, two Taliban fighters in Spin Boldak, Kandahar, are seen torturing a child on the accusation of transporting goods to Pakistan, while other children sit in line waiting to be beaten by the Taliban. Meanwhile, a video of a child being tortured in a religious school, said to have been recorded in Takhar province, shows a man whom the child addresses as “Qari Sahib” beating the child with a cable and kicking him, despite the child’s pleas and crying. Social media users have condemned the violent treatment of children and urged families not to send their children to religious schools where children’s safety is not guaranteed.
Over the past five years, Taliban fighters have repeatedly beaten accused people in public and, in some cases, shot them. A video has recently been provided to the Hasht-e Subh Daily showing two Taliban fighters severely beating a child. Sources say the Taliban tortured these children on the accusation of transporting goods to Pakistan, even though the Taliban themselves are widely involved in smuggling and transporting goods along the Pakistan-Afghanistan route.
The video of children being tortured in Spin Boldak, Kandahar, which has been provided to the Hasht-e Subh Daily, shows two Taliban fighters severely beating a child, despite pleas from bystanders for his release. The voices of children witnessing the scene can also be heard in the video, saying that this act is a “sin.” The sources who provided the video to the Hasht-e Subh Daily say the children seen in it are sitting in a line and the Taliban are torturing all of them in turn.
Local sources in Spin Boldak, Kandahar, confirm that several poor children smuggle some goods from one side of the border to the other along the route between Chaman and Spin Boldak. According to the sources, these children are being tortured by the Taliban at a time when the Taliban themselves bring hundreds of vehicles loaded with goods into Afghanistan through smuggling every night. They add that along the smuggling routes, anyone who does not pay the Taliban is detained by the group and then faces extrajudicial punishments.
Meanwhile, another video is being widely circulated on social media in which a man is seen severely beating one of the students of a religious school in front of others. Social media users have said that the man torturing the child is himself blind. According to the users, he is originally from Kesham district of Badakhshan province and is currently staying at a religious school in Rustaq district of Takhar province.
In the video, the man whom the child calls “Qari Sahib” is seen making the child lie down despite his pleas and telling other children to hold his hands and feet tightly. Then, after the child is laid face down, the man strikes the child’s buttocks with a cable, and afterwards kicks him and hits him on the head. Despite the child’s crying and pleading, he pays no attention to his requests.
Social media users, criticizing parents who send their children to such religious schools, say education should take place in an environment of respect and safety. According to them, the torture of children in some religious schools has a long history, and such behavior can cause children to grow up violent and with abnormal behaviors in the future.
Farzana Ayoubi, one of the users, wrote while sharing the video: “This is not something that can be called education and upbringing. Education must come with affection, respect and safety, not with fear, violence and torture. No parent should remain silent in the face of the abuse of their child. A child who goes to school or a mosque to learn has the right to be in a safe environment, not to face violence and humiliation.”
Bahram Bahram, another user, wrote: “Seeing such a scene truly pains the human heart. Beating an innocent child with a stick in such a savage and merciless way is neither education, nor upbringing, nor religiosity. This is naked violence and a trampling of a child’s human dignity.”
Mr. Bahram added: “I say plainly to parents: do not entrust your innocent children to just anyone who has given himself the title of ‘Mullah’ or ‘Qari.’ Religious education is not the monopoly of these ignorant and violent people. If someone frightens, humiliates, and beats a child with a stick in the name of teaching, he must be held accountable for this violence.”
Yahya Hazem Espandyar wrote: “In my opinion, the Qari who commits such injustice and cruelty is also tainted by the cycle of oppression and injustice. That Qari, too, was sent from the cradle to places of cruelty, where he spent his entire childhood in tears, wailing and sighing, without any embrace, without any consolation, without any motherly affection or fatherly support.” According to him, Qari has also been dehumanized because of the cycle of cruelty and violence. Such a person has neither seen nor experienced what others speak of, and so cannot practice it.
Previously, various United Nations bodies have warned in numerous reports about violence against children and corporal punishment in Afghanistan, stressing the prohibition of corporal punishment and the need to protect children.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
از چماق طالبان تا شلاق مدرسههای دینی؛ ویدیوهای لتوکوب کودکان چه میگویند؟
