Taliban Claims 19,000 Prisoners Pardoned amid Detention Concerns

DID Press: As Taliban’s Prison Authority pardoned over 19,000 inmates over the past four years, human rights groups and families of detainees say tens of thousands of Afghanistan people remain imprisoned without fair trials — many of them allegedly innocent.

According to Taliban-controlled television, the group’s Prison Administration said that, under decrees issued by Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, over 19,000 prisoners across Afghanistan have been either pardoned or had their sentences reduced in the past four years.

Taliban officials claim the move aims to “implement Islamic justice and reintegrate prisoners into society.”

However, civil activists, detainees’ families, and human rights organizations argue that thousands of individuals remain in Taliban custody without court orders or due legal process. They say arbitrary and mass arrests, a lack of judicial transparency, and restricted family access to detainees are among the major concerns surrounding the Taliban’s detention system.

Legal experts note that while the release of some prisoners is a positive step, it does not address ongoing concerns about the fairness and legality of arrests and trials. They stress that unless the judicial process becomes transparent and follows principles of justice and law, such decrees will not resolve the widespread worries about the conditions inside Taliban prisons.