Amnesty International has criticized the Taliban’s plan to install thousands of security cameras across Kabul and other provinces, saying that it violates the fundamental rights of people, especially women.
The Taliban Ministry of Interior has recently announced that it has installed 62,000 CCTV cameras in Kabul City alone and plans to expand the project to other provinces. The ministry says that the cameras are necessary to enhance security in the country.
However, Matt Mahmoudi, Amnesty International’s researcher and advisor on artificial intelligence and human rights, asserted that the Taliban’s plan under the guise of national security is a “vast architecture of mass surveillance” that “sets a template for the Taliban to continue its draconian policies that violate the fundamental rights of people in Afghanistan, especially women in public spaces.”
Mahmoudi added that the installation of the cameras would erode people’s rights to privacy and freedom of assembly and expression, which have been under attack since the Taliban came to power. This would further erode the rule of law in Afghanistan.
Amnesty International pointed out that it has documented how the Israeli authorities have used facial recognition technology to support their ongoing “domination and oppression” of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).
The organization also documented the use of thousands of CCTV cameras in New York City that are capable of facial recognition. According to the organization many of these cameras were used in communities of color, and their use has amplified racially discriminatory policies.
