Shahpoor Hassanzoi, a former member of Afghanistan’s parliament, has been in Taliban prison for the past four days, according to a local source.
The source confirmed that Hassanzoi was arrested last Wednesday, September 25, in the eastern province of Nangarhar.
The reasons for Hassanzoi’s arrest remain unclear, and the Taliban have not yet issued an official statement regarding his detention.
Hassanzoi’s arrest follows a pattern of former officials being detained despite the Taliban’s earlier assurances of a general amnesty for members of the former government. In March of last year, the Taliban also arrested Allah Gul Mujahid, another former lawmaker, who had returned to Afghanistan under the Taliban’s “Commission for Contact with Afghan Personalities.”
Mujahid was detained on charges of murder, and his whereabouts remain unknown.
Just last week, Taliban intelligence forces arrested military and political analyst Javid Kohistani in Kabul, raising further concerns about the treatment of former officials and public figures under the Taliban’s rule.
Hassanzoi, who had returned to Afghanistan under the Taliban’s amnesty program, occasionally appeared on media platforms as a commentator and had sometimes expressed views aligned with the Taliban’s positions.
These arrests are occurring despite a declared amnesty from the Taliban leadership. Ghulam Farooq Aleem, a former prosecutor, criticized the Taliban’s actions, stating, “The general amnesty announced by Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada was more of a propaganda tool, aimed at luring former military and government officials into a trap where they could be targeted for punishment.”
Earlier this year, in May, Khalid Zadran, a spokesman for the Taliban police in Kabul, confirmed on social media that Allah Gul Mujahid had been arrested on murder charges. Mujahid was accused of being involved in the killing of Qari Saeedullah, who was murdered in December 2022. Zadran stated that Mujahid would remain in custody until the investigation was completed.
The United Nations, in its latest quarterly report on Afghanistan released in August, documented four extrajudicial killings, nine arbitrary detentions, and six cases of torture or mistreatment of former government officials and military personnel by the Taliban, despite their proclaimed amnesty. The report also noted one extrajudicial killing and seven arbitrary detentions of individuals accused of links to the National Resistance Front.
Human rights activist Sima Noori called for a coordinated international response to halt the Taliban’s extrajudicial actions. “There needs to be increased pressure from the U.N. and the international community, including more sanctions on the Taliban to ensure they respect human rights,” she said.
In addition to Hassanzoi, Kohistani, and Mujahid, Taliban courts have recently sentenced journalists Mohammad Arif Hijran and Ahmad Kamran to 10 years in prison, further intensifying concerns over the Taliban’s crackdown on dissent.
