Rights Group Calls for Release of Analyst Kohistani and Journalist Aryan from Taliban Detention

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Amnesty International calls on the Taliban to immediately release political analyst Jawed Kohistani and journalist Hekmat Aryan, who were recently detained.

In a post on X today, October 3, the rights group urged the Taliban to end the practices of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances of individuals exercising their right to freedom of expression.

Jawed Kohistani, a prominent political and military analyst, was arrested by Taliban intelligence agents in Kabul on Thursday, September 26. Since then, his whereabouts and fate remain unknown.

Hekmat Aryan, a journalist and the head of Khoshhal Radio, a private radio station in Ghazni province, was arrested by Taliban agents in Ghazni city on Sunday, September 29. The Taliban reportedly accused him of broadcasting an audio clip related to the regime’s suicide attacks, an allegation his relatives have denied.

Amnesty International says that the arbitrary detention of these individuals highlights the ongoing repression under Taliban rule against those who dare to voice their opinions and peacefully express their views.

“These reprisals are in complete violation of Afghanistan’s obligations under international human rights law,” the rights group said.

Since their return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban, despite proclaiming a “general amnesty,” have arrested, detained, tortured, and in some cases, killed dozens of activists, journalists, former government officials, and critics of their policies.

In its quarterly report released at the end of July, the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented at least 60 cases of arbitrary arrests, 10 instances of torture, and five killings of former government officials within just three months.

Similarly, as part of its crackdown on media in Afghanistan, the Taliban have arrested, detained, tortured, and in some cases, killed dozens of journalists and media workers over the past three years.

In its recent report, the Afghanistan Journalist Center (AFJC), an Afghan media watchdog, documented at least 89 cases of violence against journalists and media workers, including 29 arrests in the first six months of this year.

UN experts, rights groups, and activists have repeatedly accused the Taliban of committing serious human rights violations. They have raised concerns that acts of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances and killings of civilians, activists, and former soldiers continue, despite the regime’s declared “general amnesty.”