Amrullah Saleh
Ariana: Vice President Amrullah Saleh claimed Sunday that 85 percent of Taliban prisoners who were released as part of the US-Taliban deal have “re-assumed roles in unleashing violence.” “In a brazen act of noncompliance and defiance to the Doha agreement some 85% of the 5,500 released Taliban have re-assumed roles in unleashing violence and campaign of massacre of civilians,” Saleh said in a tweet. Click here to read more (external link).
Ismail Khan
Tolo News: Some Afghan politicians have expressed different views about a draft outline of a future government, which they claim to have seen recently. Mohammad Ismail Khan, former mujahideen leader and former minister of energy and water, said the draft includes only the views of the United States and the Taliban; therefore, it is not inclusive for a future setup in the country. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News: Hundreds of poor and displaced people have sold their vital organs for a small price in the western province of Herat. Confirmed figures show that over 1,000 kidneys have been traded in Herat over the last five years. Over 100 of such people who have sold their kidneys are living in the Se Shanba Bazar village in Injil district in Herat, and are relatives of one another. They said they succumbed to the business offer for their organs due to poverty and unemployment. Click here to read more (external link).
Thousands joined a rally in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif on February 7 to demand the authorities do more to free a kidnapped child. Abdul-Rauf, a 9-year-old ethnic Turkmen boy, has been held captive for more than three months by kidnappers who are demanding a ransom. The family accuses the authorities of failing to act and says local warlords are behind the abduction. The family has also asked the Taliban for help.
Tolo News: The Ministry of Public Health on Sunday reported 24 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 1,793 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The ministry says the cumulative total of known COVID-19 cases is 55,359, the total number of reported deaths is 2,413, and the total number of recoveries is 48,041. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
Ariana: Former Pakistani ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, said the agreement between the US and the Taliban has no element of peace and is basically a withdrawal pact for American troops from Afghanistan. “Taliban’s definition of peace is very different from that of the US or the Afghan government. The Taliban believes that once their Islamic Emirate is restored, peace is restored,” said Haqqani, who is currently the Director for South and Central Asia at Hudson Institute. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
February 6, 2021
Afghan police say at least three people, including members of the Afghan Hindu community, have been killed and four others wounded in three separate blasts in the capital, Kabul.
The first explosion took place inside a shop in the Bagh-e Qazi area west of Kabul in the morning, causing the store’s mud-brick building to collapse, police officials said on February 6.
The second explosion occurred at the same site shortly afterwards, as police and local residents were busy helping those wounded in the first blast. At least two civilians, including one Afghan Hindu, were killed in the incidents.
Police said they were investigating what caused the explosions.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts.
In the past, militants affiliated to the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, took responsibility for a number of deadly attacks on Afghan Hindu and Sikh communities as well as Shi’ite Muslims in the war-torn country.
IS claimed responsibility for an attack last March in which a gunman rampaged through a Sikh house of worship in Kabul, killing 25 worshippers and wounding eight.
In a separate attack in Kabul on February 6, a sticky bomb attached to a police car went off in northern Kabul, killing one security force member. The attack occurred in the Hese Awal area, officials said.
Meanwhile, an explosion targeted a police vehicle in the southern city of Kandahar, wounding three officers.
Violence continues across Afghanistan despite the ongoing efforts for peace between the Western-backed government in Kabul and the Taliban militant group.
Based on reporting by tolonews.com, AP, and dpa
Lisa Schlein
VOA News
February 6, 2021
GENEVA – A report by the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights finds torture, which is prohibited under international law, is widely practiced in Afghan prisons. The report covers the period from January 2019 through March 2020.
The report is based on 656 interviews with men, women and children held in 63 detention facilities across Afghanistan. It finds about one-third of the inmates who were suspected, accused or convicted of security or terrorism-related offenses had been tortured or subjected to other forms of ill treatment.
Rupert Colville is spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. He tells VOA the percentage of detainees claiming to have been tortured has decreased slightly compared to the previous two-year monitoring period. Nevertheless, he says the very high percentage of people subjected to torture remains alarmingly high.
“Now, we have not been able to individually verify each case that it is true, that it really happened but, obviously, in some cases, you can see the physical evidence of torture…The total prohibition against torture does not appear to be there with the security services or with the prison officials, etc. So, it still appears to be rampant in detention facilities,” said Colville.
The Afghan government has allowed the U.N. to monitor the treatment of people in places of detention since 2011. The monitoring of those imprisoned on charges of security or terrorism-related offenses was temporarily suspended in early March of last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
That makes prisoners particularly vulnerable to abuse. The report highlights that procedural safeguards for detainees are rarely followed. Colville notes none of the detainees interviewed were informed of their right to a lawyer. He says few received a medical examination or were able to contact their families early in their detention.
“Perhaps most alarming of all, nearly half of those interviewed were apparently asked to sign or place their thumbprint — because many, many Afghans are not literate — were asked to sign or place their thumbprint on a document without knowing what that document actually said. That, of course, leads to forced confessions and so on,” said Colville.
The report recognizes the Afghan government has taken steps to prevent torture in places of detention. But it says more needs to be done. It recommends measures to increase the capacity, resources, and training of law enforcement agencies so they understand the illegal practice must stop.