Families of several prisoners in Bagram prison told Independent Persian that in the past three months, the possibility of meeting prisoners has been limited, and violence, mistreatment, psychological torture, and starvation of prisoners have increased.
An Independent Persian reporter spoke with relatives of three prisoners held at Bagram prison, located north of Kabul. All of them reported that the prison's sanitary conditions are poor and worrying, visits with relatives have been restricted, and prisoners are not provided with sufficient food, water, or medicine.
Rahim (a pseudonym), a cousin of one prisoner, said that only one family member is allowed to visit every 45 days. The timing of the visit is not at the discretion of the families but is determined by the prison authorities, and prisoners notify their families of the meeting time. Rahim mentioned that his cousin was sentenced to three years in prison for being part of the National Resistance Front.
The Taliban holds individuals in Bagram prison who have been sentenced to more than six months of imprisonment.
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| Bagram Prison,youtube.com/@Hamayon-afghan |
According to informed sources, individuals arrested on charges of membership in ISIS and the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan have been sentenced to between two and 17 years of imprisonment. Additionally, in recent weeks, some former Afghan military personnel have been transferred from Pul-e-Charkhi prison and other Taliban-run prisons to Bagram prison.
Following complaints in early 2022 about Taliban torture and mistreatment of prisoners at Pul-e-Charkhi prison, Taliban prison authorities claimed they had implemented reforms to prevent further torture. Some international organizations, including the Red Cross, which supplies Taliban prisons, have overseen Pul-e-Charkhi prison to reduce the cycle of Taliban torture and mistreatment.
However, relatives of Bagram prisoners say that unlike Pul-e-Charkhi prison, there is no oversight of the situation at Bagram. Taliban members arbitrarily torture prisoners both physically and mentally. One person, who recently visited a family member at Bagram, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said, "The situation of prisoners is extremely concerning. National Resistance Front prisoners are kept in one unit, and ISIS-K prisoners in another. There is not even carpeting in the cells, and prisoners sleep on concrete floors. They lack sufficient access to food, water, hygiene products, and medicine, and I saw several sick prisoners facing the risk of death."
A source from the Taliban's Prison Affairs Directorate said that this department has no access to Bagram prison, but Pul-e-Charkhi is under their jurisdiction. The Taliban's intelligence agency, a powerful and feared entity within the regime, independently manages a set of prisons that are off-limits to both national and international organizations.
Bagram prison is also under the Taliban's intelligence agency. Over the past three years, dozens of protesting women, human rights activists, former government military personnel, members of the resistance and freedom fronts, and ISIS members have been imprisoned in these Taliban-run intelligence facilities. Some of the protesting women, after their release, spoke of sexual assault, torture, and mistreatment in these prisons.
Bagram prison, located 40 kilometers north of Kabul in the Bagram district of Parwan province, is known as the Guantanamo of Afghanistan. It was established in 2002 following the fall of the first Taliban regime and the formation of a new government backed by the United States. The prison remained under U.S. control until 2013, after which responsibility was transferred to the Afghan government following criticisms from Hamid Karzai, who called it a "factory for making Taliban." The prison, located on the Bagram Airbase, was built with modern and advanced facilities by the U.S. military.
After U.S. forces evacuated Bagram Airbase in June 2021, prisoners were transferred from Bagram to other prisons, including Pul-e-Charkhi. Bagram had been used to house members of the Taliban, ISIS, al-Qaeda, and other terrorist and militant groups.
With the collapse of the Afghan Republic and the Taliban's return to power, Bagram prison remained empty for some time. However, a few months later, the Taliban intelligence agency took over Bagram prison, transferring individuals arrested for membership in the National Resistance Front and ISIS-K to this facility. According to informed sources, by early 2024, the number of inmates at Bagram remained small. However, following repairs to damaged sections of the cells and the reactivation of its security features, ISIS-K and National Resistance Front members sentenced by Taliban courts were transferred to the prison.
The exact date of the transfer of National Resistance Front and ISIS-K prisoners to Bagram remains unclear. However, some families report that in the past three months, after weeks of uncertainty about the fate of their loved ones, they were contacted and informed that their relatives had been moved from Pul-e-Charkhi and other prisons to Bagram.
On September 2, Mawlawi Mohammad Yousuf Mastari, head of the Taliban prison authority, said in a press conference in Kabul that Bagram prison had been reactivated and that several prisoners were being held there. Mastari did not specify which groups of prisoners were detained at Bagram. The following day, an ISIS-K attacker targeted Taliban attorney general employees, killing at least 16 people and injuring several others.
ISIS-K claimed responsibility for the attack, stating it was carried out in retaliation for the transfer of their prisoners to Bagram prison. A source told Independent Persian that around 7,000 people are imprisoned on charges of ISIS membership, most of whom have been moved to Bagram, while others remain in prisons controlled by the Taliban's intelligence agency.
Mastari had previously stated that Taliban prisons house 11,000 prisoners, including 1,000 women and 800 children.
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