Taliban database leak reveals over a thousand women in Taliban prisons

Since seizing control of Afghanistan, the Taliban has sought international legitimacy by portraying an image different from the harsh reality of its rule. From vague promises about "respecting women's rights within the framework of Islamic law" to suppressing, arresting, and torturing opponents while simultaneously denying such detentions, the group has attempted to control its narrative.

Recently, an anonymous group carried out an unprecedented cyberattack, exposing the Taliban’s confidential data and revealing thousands of documents from its intelligence system. These documents, published on the website "Taliban Leaks," contain sensitive information from 21 ministries and independent agencies under Taliban control, including the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Justice, Information and Culture, Telecommunications, Mining, the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the Supreme Court, and other key institutions.

Initial reviews indicate that these documents include official correspondence, administrative records, and potentially critical security data. Among them, revelations concerning the Taliban’s Supreme Court, the Directorate of Prisons, and the Ministry of Justice could have serious implications for both the group and its detainees.

A significant portion of the leaked documents relates to Taliban-run prisons. According to the leaked information, over 18,000 people are being held in detention centers across Afghanistan, including 16,507 men and 1,376 Afghan women.

Kabul holds the highest number of female prisoners, with 209 women incarcerated. Following Kabul, Herat has 126 female prisoners, while Balkh ranks third with 112. Additionally, prisons in Nangarhar, Faryab, Sar-e Pol, Jowzjan, Samangan, Kunduz, Baghlan, Takhar, Badakhshan, and Kandahar also house a considerable number of female detainees.

Despite the widespread arrests of protesting women since August 2021, the Taliban has consistently denied such detentions in public and media statements. Last year, the Taliban’s acting Foreign Minister claimed that there were no political prisoners or opposition members in their custody. Meanwhile, the group has dismissed reports of disappeared and detained women protesters, often accusing them of fabricating such claims to seek asylum abroad.

In late 2021, Afghan women launched a series of large-scale protests demanding their fundamental rights. Following one such protest, 40 people were arrested from a safe house in central Kabul, including 29 women and children. Initially, Taliban officials denied these arrests and refused to disclose their whereabouts. However, after nearly two weeks of uncertainty, the Taliban released a video showing forced confessions from the detained women.

Following the release of a 14-minute video featuring coerced confessions, the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior claimed that security forces had tracked and arrested these women in a house. In the video, the detained women stated that they had been encouraged by human rights activists and foreign figures to take to the streets and protest against the Taliban.

One of the most controversial aspects of the video was the fabricated voice of Sima Samar, the former head of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. This fake audio, allegedly created by the Taliban, urged women to go out in public without burqas and to return to work despite Taliban-imposed restrictions.

Human rights activists asserted that the video was recorded under duress and that the Taliban was using it to manipulate public perception and distort reality.

Amnesty International condemned the forced confessions, describing them as part of the Taliban’s systematic policy to silence dissenting voices and suppress those challenging the group’s human rights violations.

Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan, cited credible sources and evidence in a recent report, revealing that women in Taliban prisons have been subjected to abuse, including sexual violence.