Taliban critics face systemic torture in Afghan prisons, survivors say

As a former official in Afghanistan’s democratically elected government, Mustafa* knew that if the Nato-backed administration collapsed he would have to flee. But like many others, he was unable to do so, and in July last year fell into Taliban hands. They threw him inside a small cage with dogs inside.

“They captured me, suffocated me by placing a plastic bag on my face and tied my limbs together,” he tells The Independent in a phone call from Afghanistan. The Taliban accused him of continuing to collaborate with the hardline Islamist government’s enemies even after the fall of Kabul in August 2021 – in their minds, being a rebel.

When he was finally taken out of the cage after 30 hours, Mustafa was unable to stand and collapsed to the ground. Over the next 17 months, the Taliban’s prison guards and officials assaulted him with sticks and pipes, he says, and fed him scraps.

He is one of 38 interviewees in a new body of research by Afghanistan International, a TV station run by journalists covering the country from exile. They seek to document allegations of systemic torture and abuse meted out by the Taliban to detainees, and have presented their findings to the UN special rapporteur for Afghanistan, Richard Bennett.

The Taliban denies the allegations and claims journalists are welcome to visit its prison facilities to see conditions for themselves, though the Islamist regime has also banned media from airing criticism of its policies – part of what the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calls “draconian media restrictions… dragging Afghanistan back to the Stone Age”.

In all, Mustafa and the other 37 interviewed detainees provide oral evidence of at least 31 different types of torture, often under cover of darkness and sometimes lasting up to 18 hours a day.

Mustafa breaks down as he remembers the conditions he was kept in. “You could not lie down inside that cage, and when I pleaded, they hit the cage with sticks and rifle butts, silencing me,” he says. “At that point, I thought – am I, are other Afghans, dead to the world? Do they not see how the Taliban came and stomped all over our rights?”

The kinds of torture described in the testimonies shared with The Independent include waterboarding, electric shocks on private parts, physical assault with sticks, immersion in hot water, nail extraction and suffocation with a bag.

Another interviewee, Farishta*, was accused of providing assistance to members of an Afghan resistance movement. She says she was beaten for over a week at a Taliban-held intelligence facility in Kabul, by interrogators trying to get information about resistance fighters. On the sixth night she says she was taken to a room where wires were attached to her toes and she was shocked with electricity until she lost consciousness.

The Taliban released her from prison after 41 days, citing a lack of evidence to detain her. She says the physical trauma of the ordeal disrupted her menstrual cycle.

The crimes the interviewees are alleged to have committed vary, but many revolve around public criticism of the Taliban administration. At least 16 detainees, including six women, were accused by the Taliban of inciting rebellion and mobilising people against the group by using social media, participating in meetings and discussions, speaking to media outlets, and spreading anti-Taliban propaganda. They were arrested across Afghanistan, including in Kabul.

The Independent cannot independently corroborate all their claims, but has seen photos purporting to show injuries inflicted on the prisoners during their alleged torture. Several photos also showed shoddily stitched-up wounds on the bodies of detainees.

Hamidullah*, who the Taliban accused of “inciting rebellion” against the new regime by organising protests, spent a month in detention. One night, he says, interrogators walked him to a room, ordered him to be stripped naked and attached weights to his private parts. He was ordered to stand for the entire night during this ordeal.

Hamidullah has visited a urologist three times after being freed from detention, but has not felt able to share any details of the horror he suffered with his wife and children.

Sayed Jamal, a Kabul resident arrested in May this year, told Afghanistan International he was accused of being involved in an explosion carried out by a resistance group called the Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF). “They told me, ‘You killed our Mujahids, now we are doing the right thing by just removing your nails’,” he says. He was released in July, and has now fled Afghanistan.

The dates, location and names have not been disclosed over fears of reprisal expressed by the former detainees who are still under the Taliban’s surveillance and fear rearrest.

Afghan journalists are also among those interviewed. In Kandahar, Ashraf* says he was detained and told by the Taliban that they would cut off his tongue if he did not stop speaking out in the media. Some detainees say they were abused on the basis of their alleged connections to foreign media outlets, including Afghanistan International itself.

In a statement to The Independent, the Taliban’s chief spokesperson, Zabiullah Mujahid, said there was “no form of torture in the prisons of the Islamic Emirate”, and claimed unspecified “foreign intelligence” organisations were influencing former detainees so that they “misinterpret what they saw in prison and provide false information”.

Australian police say synagogue arson attack act of terrorism

A firebomb attack at a synagogue in Australia last week is being investigated as an act of terrorism, police have said.

The Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne had to be evacuated after a fire began at around 4am local time on Friday.

The fire fully engulfed the building, causing extensive damage and leaving a person injured.

Community leaders reported seeing firebombs thrown inside the Jewish house of worship.

Victoria’s police chief commissioner, Shane Patton, said on Monday it was a targeted attack.

“I am very confident that we now have had an attack, a terrorist attack, on that synagogue,” he told a press conference. “It’s clear that the fire was targeted, it was callous and an horrific attack on the synagogue. But by default, it is an attack on Jewish people.”

State and federal police and the country’s domestic intelligence service, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, were working together to identify three suspects wanted for the attack, Mr Patton said.

Victoria premier Jacinta Allan said the declaration from police was a significant step for the Jewish community. “Our thoughts again today must be with the Jewish community here in Melbourne, the Jewish community around the Adass Israel synagogue, indeed across Australia,” she said. “This has been an awful, evil, anti-Semitic, and now we know it has been confirmed as a terrorist attack.”

The Victoria police said they decided to treat it as a terrorist attack after a meeting with the federal police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.

“This is now a terrorism investigation,” federal police deputy commissioner Krissy Barrett said. “We are already well-prepared, well-briefed and well-progressed.”

Mr Patton denied the use of firearms in the attack after concerns were raised following the recovery of a damaged two calibre bullet on the footpath outside the synagogue following the attack.

“We have nothing to suggest whatsoever that has any connection,” he said. “Nonetheless, as a result of completeness, we have taken that away for examination.”

The federal police, meanwhile, launched an antisemitism task force on Monday called Abalight.

“Special Operation Abalight will be an agile and experienced squad of counterterrorism investigators who will focus on threats, violence, and hatred towards the Australian Jewish community and parliamentarians,” police chief Reece Kershaw told a news conference.

“In essence, they will be a flying squad to deploy nationally to incidents.”

A robot was found ‘dead’ at work – and no one knows why

Was it a misstep or a deliberate act of self-destruction? This is the question workers at Gumi City Council in South Korea asked earlier this year when one of their colleagues was found unresponsive at the bottom of a two-metre staircase.

The incident was picked up by local media, with headlines asking “Why did the diligent civil officer do it?” and “Was work too hard?”. There was also an outpouring of sympathy on social media for the stricken worker, with people’s interest piqued due to the civil servant being – in fact – a robot.

Some believe it is the first ever robot suicide – that it intentionally threw itself down the stairs after growing frustrated with its job. Witnesses reported seeing it circling in one spot shortly before the fall, which led to speculation that it was suffering an emotional breakdown.

But in order to deliberately kill itself, the robot would first need to be sentient. It is an idea that has been a trope of science fiction for more than a century, but only in recent decades have technologists and philosophers begun to seriously speculate on when and how this might actually unfold.

Jonathan Birch, a professor of philosophy at LSE and author of The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI, believes that we will very soon see what he calls “ambiguously sentient” AI.

“By ‘ambiguously sentient’, I mean that some people will be absolutely convinced that their AI companion is a sentient being with a rich inner life, and will be angered when others deny this,” he tells The Independent. “Meanwhile, others will be equally convinced that these AI companions feel absolutely nothing.

“It won’t be possible to tell who is right because our scientific understanding of sentience is not yet mature enough for that. And this has the potential to lead to very serious social divisions.”

To prepare for such an eventuality, Professor Birch has been calling on tech companies to acknowledge the risk and to support research aimed at improving our scientific understanding.

The debate that arose in South Korea following the robot worker’s demise centred on the integration of AI and machines into human workplaces, and whether they should be given similar rights as their flesh and blood colleagues.

The questions have particular weight in a country where automation is happening at a faster pace than any other country on Earth. A report last month from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) revealed that South Korea has become the first in the world to replace more than 10 per cent of its industrial workforce with robots. Only one other country has even passed 5 per cent.

Robots are finding work everywhere in Korea, from restaurant kitchens to hospital operating theatres. The Korean government sees intelligent machines as a way to address record-low birth rates and a rapidly shrinking working-age population. However, the massive influx of robots has raised new challenges about how best to treat and integrate them.

Even if they are not yet sentient and have no sense of self, many are already seeing them as some sort of semi-conscious beings that deserve a certain level of dignity. This was highlighted by the reaction to a video last year, which showed a robot abruptly collapsing to the ground while stacking boxes.

While the robot’s manufacturer said it was an ordinary malfunction, the clip gained millions of views as people speculated over whether it was, in fact, an act of defiance or exhaustion. “Stressed like the rest of us,” one person wrote, while another commented: “AI making its own decisions and I kinda like it #freewill.”

Since the incident at the city hall in South Korea, there have been numerous other incidents of robots seeming to kill themselves.

Last month, an event billed as Man vs Machine aimed to race an AI-powered car against a human driver. But the contest in Japan never happened; the robo-racer drove itself into the barrier on the way to the start line. Some spectators joked that the AI would rather spin itself out of the race than risk facing a human driver who was once dubbed “the torpedo” for his reckless driving.

As for the robot in South Korea that ended up at the bottom of a set of stairs, there is a third possibility for what happened to it. Something the municipal workers and media seemed reluctant to suggest: it may have been pushed.

The IFR’s report last week revealed that the average robot density globally has more than doubled over the last seven years. As this trend continues to accelerate in tandem with advances in artificial intelligence, we will increasingly be confronted with how best to live and work alongside our robot counterparts.

As the world’s leading robot employer, Amazon has spent more than a decade working on ways to integrate them into the workplace. With a staff of more than 750,000 machines working alongside 1.5 million human employees around the world, robots already make up a third of the retail giant’s workforce.

The firm’s first fully autonomous robot, Proteus, has been let loose on the company’s warehouses, allowed to roam around outside fenced areas that robots have previously been restricted to. This new role alongside human workers meant that a lot of consideration went into making the robot as least annoying as possible.

“We wanted to make Proteus lovable,” Julie Mitchell, a director at Amazon robotics who helped bring the machine to life, told reporters on a recent tour of one of the company’s fulfilment centres.

“A lot of research went into that … The faces, the eyes that we put on it, the noises that it makes – it is all purposely designed to make it lovable.”

As robot adoption continues to accelerate in tandem with advances in artificial intelligence, it seems we will increasingly be confronted with what it means to be a robot among humans – and vice versa. And serious ethical discussion around AI machines will inevitably expand from not just killer robots but robots killing themselves.

Hindu neighbours protest after Muslim couple buy home in India

A Muslim couple in northern India were subjected to Islamophobic attacks as residents of a posh neighbourhood protested against them buying a house there.

The couple, both doctors, were reportedly forced out of their newly purchased house in Moradabad city in Uttar Pradesh state after their Hindu neighbours objected to them moving in because of their religion.

The Hindu residents said the previous owner, a Hindu doctor, had sold the house to the Muslim family without consulting them.

“This is a Hindu society where over 400 Hindu families live. We don’t want anyone from the other communities to reside here,” one protester told PTI news agency.

The protest, which began on Tuesday, saw the Hindu residents hold up banners asking the previous owner to take his house back.

The protesters said they had filed a complaint with the district administration and the local police over the Muslim family taking a house in the society.

“If one house is sold, others might follow, and soon the area could lose its character,” another protester was quoted by the Times of India as saying.

Ashok Bajaj, who previously owned the house, told the BBC that the Muslim couple were not comfortable moving in after the protest.

“The controversy is changing the fabric of the city. Our intention was not to create any kind of unrest with this transaction,” Dr Bajaj said. He pointed out that there was no law against this transaction.

The Hindu residents marched to the district magistrate’s office and filed an objection to the sale of the house.

“We are talking to the concerned parties and trying for a unanimous, amicable solution to it,” the magistrate, Anuj Kumar Singh, told reporters.

Although religious minorities make up about 20 per cent of India’s 1.3 billion population, they have been suffering increasing persecution since 2014, when Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party came to power, human rights groups say.

In its annual report, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom noted “severe violations of religious freedom” in India, citing violence against religious minorities and demolition of their homes and places of worship.

The Indian government has denied such allegations.

In August, Human Rights Watch said Mr Modi had made Islamophobic remarks in more than 100 campaign speeches during India’s general election, which he won for a record third consecutive term in office.

Farmers clash with police near Delhi as protests escalate

Indian police on Friday used tear gas against hundreds of farmers taking part in a march to New Delhi to demand guaranteed crop prices in a repeat of 2021 protests.

Clashes broke out near Shambhu, a border crossing between northern Punjab and Haryana states, where multiple entry points into the capital have been sealed with metal barricades and barbed wire. The authorities also suspended internet service in some districts of Haryana to prevent communication among the protesters.

The farmers, who began their march in Haryana and Punjab, are seeking guarantees, backed by law, of more state support or a minimum purchase price for farm produce. A similar protest three years ago resulted in tens of thousands of farmers camping on the capital’s outskirts for more than a year.

The government protects agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices by announcing a minimum purchase price for certain essential crops at the beginning of the sowing season, taking into account the cost of production.

But state agencies often buy only rice and wheat at the support level, and farmers want minimum purchase price for at least more than 20 essential crops.

The farmers are also pressing the government to meet its promise to double their income, complaining that costs of cultivation have jumped over the years while incomes have remained stagnant. They have further asked the government to waive their loans.

Farmer leaders say they will protest in New Delhi where the parliament is in session.

In 2021, Mr Modi repealed a set of agricultural laws that the protesting farmers said would hurt their incomes. The withdrawal of the laws was seen as a major retreat by the government, which was shocked in January that year when tens of thousands of farmers stormed the historic Red Fort in New Delhi.

After withdrawing the laws, the government said it would set up a panel of farmers and government officials to find ways to ensure support prices for some essential farm produce.

Multiple meetings since then have made no progress and farmers accuse the government of not fulfilling that promise.

Taiwan’s president urges China to ‘open its arms’ amid rising tensions

Taiwanese president Lai Ching Te has urged China to abandon its confrontational stance and embrace dialogue, calling on Beijing to “open its arms rather than raise its fists”.

The remarks, delivered in Palau on Friday to conclude his Pacific diplomatic tour, came amid speculation that China could conduct military drills around Taiwan.

The visit, Mr Lai’s first overseas since assuming office in May, underscored Taiwan’s efforts to strengthen ties with its handful of allies in the face of growing Chinese pressure.

Addressing speculation of Chinese military activity, Mr Lai said: “No matter how many military exercises and warships and aircraft are used to coerce neighbouring countries, they will not be able to win the respect of any country.”

Mr Lai’s trip to the small Pacific nations of Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau, and brief stopovers in the American territories of Hawaii and Guam, has drawn a sharp rebuke from China. The visit, which included discussions with US congressional leaders, is viewed by Beijing as affront to its claims over the island.

The Chinese foreign ministry condemned the US for facilitating Mr Lai’s transit and accused Taiwan of conducting “separatist activities” under the guise of diplomacy.

“Lai Ching Te and the DPP authorities have been engaging in Taiwan independence activities under various guises,” a ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, said, referring to the president’s political party.

“No matter what they say or do, they will never change the fact that Taiwan is part of China.”

Beijing reiterated its claim over the island, insisting that reunification was inevitable and warning against attempts to solicit foreign support for independence.

In a related development, China imposed sanctions on 13 US companies and six executives on Thursday in response to a $385m American arms deal with Taiwan.

The targeted entities include Teledyne Brown Engineering and Brinc Drones, and executives from Raytheon and Bae Systems.

The sanctions freeze their assets in China, prohibit their entry into the country, and disallow Chinese entities from engaging with them.

Beijing has described the arms sale as a violation of its sovereignty and a threat to its territorial integrity.

Mr Lai’s trip also highlighted the growing challenge Taiwan faces in maintaining its dwindling diplomatic alliances. The island has seen several allies switch over to Beijing in recent years, reflecting China’s increasing economic and diplomatic heft on the global stage that enables it to isolate Taiwan.

In spite of these challenges, Mr Lai expressed optimism about Taiwan’s future and its partnership with the US , including the incoming administration.

“Taiwan is confident that it will deepen cooperation with the new government,” he said, “and contribute more to regional stability and peace.”

He underscored the importance of democratic countries standing together to counter authoritarian regimes, pointing to military collaborations between China, Russia, and North Korea as a growing threat.

As Taiwan continues to resist Beijing’s efforts to assert control, Mr Lai’s call for restraint and dialogue highlights the escalating tensions in the region. His remarks come at a time of significant geopolitical tension, with Taiwan caught in the midst of a power struggle between China and the US over influence in the Indo-Pacific.

Additional reporting by agencies.

Three climbers missing on New Zealand’s highest peak feared dead

Three climbers missing for five days on New Zealand’s tallest peak are now presumed dead, authorities announced on Friday.

The men, two Americans and a Canadian, were last seen on Saturday when they flew to a hut partway up the Aoraki mountain to start their ascent.

Kurt Blair, 56, from Colorado, and Carlos Romero, 50, from California, both certified alpine guides, were joined by a Canadian climber whose identity has not been disclosed at the family’s request.

The group was reported missing on Monday after they failed to meet their pre-arranged transport.

An extensive search for the men started immediately but harsh weather conditions, including heavy rain and snow, stalled efforts for several days. Despite the challenging conditions, a search helicopter was able to locate climbing equipment, including a jacket and ice axe, as well as footprints on the slopes.

Police Inspector Vicki Walker addressed the media on Friday, confirming that, based on the evidence found, the climbers are believed to have fallen down.

“After reviewing the number of days the climbers have been missing, no communication, the items we have retrieved and our reconnaissance today, we do not believe the men have survived,” she said.

“We believe they have taken a fall.”

The search, which involved aerial surveys and ground searches, had previously been hindered by unstable weather and glacier movement on the mountain.

Aoraki, also known as Mount Cook, rises to 3,724m and is notorious for its crevasses and the risk of avalanches. The mountain has claimed more than 240 lives since the early 20th century.

Authorities have indicated that the search would only resume if new information comes to light, with the men’s deaths now referred to a coroner for further investigation.

“We all wanted this operation to be a success,” Inspector Walker remarked, expressing gratitude for the efforts of the search teams.

Additional reporting by agencies.

Man breaks British record by running more than 4000km across Australia

A 28-year-old man from Berkshire has set a new British record for running across Australia, completing the 4,320km journey from Perth to Sydney’s Bondi Beach in 61 days.

Jack Pitcher surpassed the previous record, held by Nottingham’s Nikki Love, by 16 days.

Love, 56, from Nottingham earlier held the record, running from the Western Australia capital to New South Wales city in 77 days.

Mr Pitcher began the challenge on 6 October alongside Joshua Smith, 21, from Reading. However, Mr Smith had to withdraw from running midway due to health issues, switching to cycling part of the route before flying home.

Reflecting on his achievement, Mr Pitcher told BBC Radio Berkshire: “I’m over the moon. To have a round number of 60 days would have been nice, but I’m incredibly proud of what I’ve done.”

The final stretch was particularly gruelling. Following a 120km run, Mr Pitcher attempted a 150km push to finish within 60 days but had to pause after experiencing hallucinations. “I went through the night and got to Sydney, but I was very dizzy on the road, and it was not safe,” he explained. After a brief rest, he completed the journey early on Thursday.

The feat was not just about setting records. Mr Pitcher and Mr Smith aimed to raise funds for SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, and ARC Wokingham, a volunteer-run counselling service. Mr Pitcher, who suffered from depression, hopes his journey inspires others facing mental health struggles. “When I get home, I’m keen to explore motivational speaking and working in mental health,” he said.

The two friends who set off on their journey in early October have faced a number of challenges along the way.

“Two weeks ago when we were running, Josh pulled up quite quickly. He couldn’t carry on, so we had to call it a day,” said Mr Pitcher.

“He took a few days off and on the fourth day he was back running, however he could barely stand up after 10km,” he earlier told PA.

“We got him loads of magnesium and sleeping tablets to help him, and nothing worked. And I think his body just gave up on him.

“He still ran 2700km at 21-years-old. It’s an incredible feat to do that at that age.

“It’s down to me now to carry the torch and bring the record home.”

Mr Pitcher spoke of the stunning Australian wildlife and the generosity of strangers who offered cold drinks during his run. However, he also faced severe storms and physical exhaustion.

Looking ahead, Mr Pitcher plans to rest and “eat as many calories” as possible while considering future opportunities. Local runner Nedd Brockmann holds the overall record of completing the route in 46 days and 12 hours.

Additional reporting by PA