Taliban Official Inspects Herat Prison Amid Ongoing Torture Allegations

DID Press: Mullah Abdul Salam Hanafi, the Taliban’s Administrative Deputy Prime Minister, led a delegation from the Commission for the Regulation of Organizational Structures and Salaries to inspect the overall conditions at Herat Prison.

The delegation visited various sections of the facility and reviewed the conditions of detainees, administrative affairs, healthcare services, education, food distribution and detention conditions.

Hanafi also met with a number of prisoners and listened to their concerns. He instructed prison officials to respect detainees’ rights in accordance with Islamic law and to pay greater attention to improving detention conditions, providing healthcare and educational services, ensuring necessary facilities and addressing prisoners’ grievances.

Herat prison officials said they would continue efforts to improve conditions and provide better services to detainees.

The visit comes amid widespread allegations against the Taliban of torturing prisoners, mistreating detainees and carrying out arbitrary arrests. Multiple human rights reports have documented concerns over conditions in Taliban-run prisons, while limited transparency and restricted access for independent monitoring bodies have raised further concerns about human rights violations.