Shocking Accounts of Women Released From Taliban Prisons

Photo: © Felipe Dana / AP Photo

Three women released from Taliban prisons have shared disturbing accounts with Zan News about their experiences inside the group’s detention centres. The women say that in Taliban prisons, “security, law and human dignity” have no meaning.

Aqlima, one of the women, who says she was detained six months ago for refusing to accept Taliban restrictions, says the prison environment was filled with threats and pressure from the beginning.

She says:

“I did not know whether the Taliban prison was a place for reform or a centre of prostitution, because they forced everyone into prostitution. Taliban members entered the women’s prison section, and we lived in a constant atmosphere of fear and pressure. They told us they had imprisoned us for reform, but in reality there was only humiliation, threats and violent treatment. They raped women and girls by force. Any resistance we showed was answered with punishment and pressure. They took us to solitary confinement and then Taliban members would even rape prisoners in groups.”

She stresses that women in Taliban prisons had no protection and no real way to file complaints or defend themselves.

Meanwhile, Soraya, another woman released from prison, describes her experience in Taliban detention:

“From the moment we entered until the nights, prison meant fear for us. There was not a single moment of safety. Every abusive or inappropriate act went unanswered, and there was no institution to address it. Not only young Taliban members, even their elders came and harmed women from behind the prison windows. They forcibly did whatever they wanted, and we could do nothing.”

Rangina also describes her experience in this way:

“Neither elderly women nor young girls, none of us were safe. At night, the prison was filled with fear and helplessness. There was no system or mechanism to protect women. Taliban members said they were tired of young girls and should also enjoy elderly women because they had experience. Whenever they wanted, they came and raped any woman or girl they chose, even in front of her cellmates.”

These women say Taliban prisons have become not places for reform, but environments of repression, intimidation and the destruction of women’s psychological and human security.

These accounts come as previous reports have also documented torture, sexual abuse, mistreatment and the absence of independent oversight in Taliban detention centres. The Taliban detain women on accusations such as failing to observe compulsory hijab, participating in protests, civil activism, “moral crimes” and even begging. The group describes these arrests as the “implementation of Sharia”, the “protection of morality” and the “reform” of women.

However, similar accounts from released women once again raise serious questions about the state of human rights, women’s safety and the functioning of detention structures in Afghanistan.

International human rights organisations have repeatedly described the Taliban’s detention of women as arbitrary, lacking transparent legal procedures and part of the systematic repression of women.