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UN Torture Committee Calls for Prosecution of Kandahar’s Security Commander

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(Last Updated On: October 24, 2022)

RAZZAQ-1425480303The U.N. Committee against Torture said the police chief of Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, General Abdul Raziq, should be prosecuted over allegations of torture and enforced disappearances.

The committee’s report said, “the Committee is particularly concerned at the numerous and credible allegations indicating General Abdul Raziq, ANP Commander in Kandahar, as being widely suspected of complicity, if not of personal implication, in severe human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings and settlement of secret detention centers.”

The committee’s chairman Jens Modvig said: “there are reports that he has been directly involved, yes.”

Kandahar security commander, General Abdul Raziq, Raziq rejected any allegation that he had been involved in torturing inmates.

Gen. Raziq said, “first of all I don’t have private jails and secondly the government-run prisons are inspected by the International Committee of the Red Cross and other human rights organizations on regular bases.”

He added, “I strongly reject such claims and they are made to defame me. If anyone or any entity have any proof, they should present it but I am sure there is none.”

UNAMA has already said there has been an increase in the use of torture since its last report in 2015, and perpetrators are still not being prosecuted, or even sacked.

The types of torture most commonly reported by detainees to UNAMA were beating, especially with rubber hoses, electric cables or wires or wooden sticks and most frequently on the soles of the feet, and suspension, being hung from bars or chains for lengthy periods.

Less common, but still widespread, were the twisting of the penis and wrenching of the testicles, and threats of sexual abuse, electric shocks, forced standing, and the removal of toenails.

The Independent Human Rights Commission (IHRC) reported of recording 68 cases of torture in prisons of the country in the current year.

Afghan Ministry of Interior (MoI) said two delegations have been sent to Kandahar to investigate the situations of prisons and prisoners, but they have not found any kind or torture in jails.

In recent years, systematic reporting on the conditions of security detainees has been carried out by UNAMA under its Security Council mandate and the AIHRC. These are the only two organizations with the authorization and reach to be able to, first, get into places of detention to speak to prisoners and, secondly, do that across the country.

By: Muhammad ZackArya

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Group of Afghans living abroad in Kabul for talks with Kabir

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(Last Updated On: April 16, 2024)

Mawlavi Abdul Kabir, the political deputy prime minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), met with a number of representatives and elders of the Union of Afghans living in Europe who are in Kabul at the moment.

The group, representing the Union of Afghans living in Germany, UK, Belgium, Sweden, Austria, Turkey, Norway as well as the United Arab Emirates, shared suggestions and ideas of Afghans abroad with Kabir.

One of the delegation members, Dr. Khushal Rohi, said that they have unions abroad and represent a large number of Afghans.

He said the Islamic Emirate has made considerable progress and achievements in the last three years, which Afghans and the international community are satisfied with.

According to him, the current system is the result of many sacrifices and no one should be allowed to undermine and destroy it.

He added that Afghans living abroad have great scientific and economic abilities that the Islamic Emirate can use for the development of the country.

Rohi appreciated the economic and financial policy of Afghanistan and said that Afghanistan has been saved from islands of power, corruption, insecurity and extortion. According to him, no one in the region and the world is in favor of war.

He added that the Islamic Emirate should remove its cabinet from the caretaker mode and establish a permanent government. He also called for girls and women to be allowed an education and to work.

Delegation members said that the conditions and situation of Afghanistan is very different from what is reported in the media and said they will convey the true picture of Afghanistan to the community of Afghans living in Europe.

They added that there is a need to include other strata in the government and strengthen its framework.

Zargai Maliar, a member of the delegation, also spoke and said that he is happy to be in Afghanistan and observe the progress being made.

He said that the current opportunities for the settlement and strengthening of the Afghan system has historical value and there is a need to strengthen Afghanistan’s relations with Afghans and the international community.

He said women should see themselves in the Islamic system and women should be allowed to work and study.

He also said they are happy to be a bridge between Afghanistan and the European Union and will work for the country’s recognition.

This delegation also promised to convey the position of the Islamic Emirate to Afghans living in Europe and will encourage them to visit their country and observe its progress closely.

Meanwhile, Kabir welcomed the delegation and said that he hoped they were able to see the positive achievements made by the IEA.

He said that after the regain of power, a paralyzed Afghanistan was left to the Islamic Emirate and the Islamic Emirate started “to settle the country and activate and strengthen the system from scratch”.

He said that the majority of officials had been expelled or were in the process of being expelled when the IEA’s Supreme Leader announced a general amnesty and all the departments resumed their activities.

The political deputy said that the Islamic Emirate has changed the ranks of security and the leadership of the departments and the majority of security forces of the former government have left. However, a number of them have remained and now serve in the ranks of the police and the army, he said.

“The nation never wishes for the corrupt authorities of the past to come back to power and does not want Afghanistan to become an island of power and a center of usurpation, corruption and drugs,” said Kabir.

He said that after the announcement of the general amnesty, “the Islamic Emirate set its priority on economic development and infrastructure affairs, and in the past two years, Afghanistan has been moving in a good direction in the fields of economic and commercial strengthening”.

According to him, Afghanistan had been affected by occupation, war and violence for two decades, “seeds of disunity were planted in our country, brothers and sisters were encouraged to enmity for personal interests, and people were divided in the name of ethnicity, position and language”. He added that with the arrival of the Islamic Emirate, “this hypocrisy has disappeared.”

Kabir said that now Afghanistan is a single Afghan nation with an Islamic system, and sinister plans and efforts to divide it have failed.

He clarified that now is a good time to strengthen national unity, and for the Islamic system to stand on its own feet.

He added that the protection of national sovereignty, territorial integrity, national participation, independence and freedom are guaranteed and Afghanistan is taking fast steps to move towards a better future.

Kabir said that the priority of the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan is to provide a permanent policy and economic stability, to consolidate national unity and to invest in it, and it is taking steps according to the lessons of the past.

He added that the Islamic Emirate believes that Afghanistan is the connecting point of the region and implementation of major regional projects is impossible without the presence of Afghanistan, and they want these projects to be implemented.

According to him, dozens of companies have invested in Afghanistan and there are discussions with many other companies.

He said that the Islamic Emirate wants order and stability in the region and the world. “Our position is that we respect the independence and territorial integrity of countries and our independence should be respected as well. The Islamic Emirate will never allow threats to be made against anyone from Afghanistan.”

He told the delegation that today security is ensured throughout Afghanistan, you can travel anywhere in Afghanistan without fear and encourage Afghans living in Europe to return to their homeland.

He welcomed the proposal of the mentioned delegation that they mediate between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and European countries.

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US identifies Kabul airport suicide bomber

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(Last Updated On: April 15, 2024)

The U.S. military has for the first time publicly named the suicide bomber behind the deadly attack at Kabul airport during the chaotic final days of the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

The identification was part of findings from a supplemental review ordered by U.S. Central Command to build on the military’s initial investigation by taking into account information and claims that have since surfaced.

The review also found that members of a Marine scout sniper platoon at the airport who believed they had the bomber in their crosshairs were mistaken, and they would not have been able to prevent the attack, ABC News reported.

In a recent briefing with reporters about the review, U.S. officials identified Abdul Rahman al-Logari as the perpetrator of the attack that killed 13 American service members and some 170 Afghans on Aug. 26, 2021.

Al-Logari had been a member of Daesh-Khorasan since 2016, according to a member of the review team from the US army.

At one point he was detained by coalition forces and held in custody, according to the review official.

Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack at Abbey Gate shortly after the bombing, praising al-Logari for committing the attack.

Republican Congress members have repeatedly raised the possibility the bombing could have been prevented in their attacks on the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal, largely based on testimony from former Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews, a member of one of the sniper teams providing overwatch near Abbey Gate.

In a March 2023 House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Vargas-Andrews claimed his team had a suspicious man matching a description of the suspected Abbey Gate suicide bomber in his sights before the deadly explosion on Aug. 26. He said they were denied permission to fire and prevent the blast, which claimed two of his own limbs.

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Tehran says it won’t allow anti-IEA political activities to take place in Iran

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(Last Updated On: April 15, 2024)

Iran’s deputy ambassador in Kabul, Sayed Hasan Murtazawi, said on Monday that the opponents of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) live in his country as ordinary refugees and they are not allowed to engage in political activities.

Murtazawi made the remarks as he met Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, political deputy of the prime minister, in Kabul on Monday.

The official said that his country is seeking to facilitate positive engagement between the regional countries and the Islamic Emirate, and expand the relations between Kabul and Tehran.

In the meeting, Mawlawi Abdul Kabir considered Iran’s attack on Israel as Tehran’s legitimate right and added that Afghanistan wants to have good relations with all its neighbors.

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