KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Amnesty International calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Ahmad Fahim Azimi, an education activist held in Taliban custody since October 2023.
In a statement on Monday, June 17, Amnesty International said that the activist was falsely accused of working against the Taliban, convicted through an unfair trial by the Taliban court, and sentenced to one year in prison in April 2024.
“His arrest, arbitrary detention, and unfair trial are against international human rights law,” the international human rights group said.
“He must be immediately and unconditionally released,” it emphasized.
Ahmad Fahim Azimi and his colleague Seddiqullah Afghan were arrested by the Taliban Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) from their office in the Kart-e-Char neighborhood of Kabul city on October 17, 2023.
The two activists were working with the education organization called Fekre Behtar (Better Thinking Center). They were accused by the Taliban of opposing the regime’s authorities and assisting girls from the national robotic team in leaving the country after the group took control of Afghanistan in August 2021.
While Seddiqullah Afghan was released on April 9 under the Taliban’s supreme leader Eid pardon for prisoners, Ahmad Fahim Azimi remains imprisoned in Pul-e-Charkhi prison.
Amnesty International says the activist was denied access to a lawyer during interrogation or medical support. His personal belongings, such as laptops, passports, cash, and flash drives containing educational content, as well as information on teachers and students, were seized during his detention.
Since his detention, the UN and various human rights organizations and advocates, including Amnesty International, have loudly called for his immediate and unconditional release. Nevertheless, the ruling regime has not yet responded to these pleas.
In February, Amnesty International wrote a letter to the Taliban Director of Intelligence, Abdul Haq Wasiq, expressing concerns about the activist’s arbitrary detention and demanding his immediate and unconditional release.
“Ahmad Fahim Azimi’s situation represents a clear violation of the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and a fair trial – rights that are guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Afghanistan is a state party,” the rights group stated in the letter.
