As the Taliban seek to bolster their international legitimacy, they continue to impose starvation, oppression, and violence on Afghans.
To shed light on the group’s campaign of brutality, three Special Immigrant Visa applicants spoke with me about the beatings, torture, and threats they face. Each spoke on condition of anonymity to protect themselves against further retribution.
As the owner of a construction company that performed major projects at NATO military bases for over a decade, Faridullah is a known supporter of the United States. Though Faridullah has moved multiple times over 11 months to evade capture, the Taliban located and imprisoned him several weeks ago. While in captivity, Faridullah was beaten over the head with a rifle butt until he lost consciousness. Believing him close to death, Taliban members brought Faridullah to a local hospital. After several days, he managed to escape. Faridullah is once again on the run with his wife and 1-year-old. Unfortunately, departure flights are occurring very slowly for U.S. allies further along in the SIV process than Faridullah. He still has not cleared the program’s first hurdle of achieving chief of mission approval.
Qudratullah spent more than 10 years working for U.S. logistics companies and humanitarian aid organizations. In August 2021, the Taliban left a letter at Qudratullah’s home threatening him with death. To protect his family, he fled his home. Two months later, fighters recognized Qudratullah outside a passport office. Under Taliban torture, his head was beaten with the butt of a rifle so severely that he was hospitalized for a week. Qudratullah said he still feels the effects of that beating today. To protect his wife and 10-year-old son, Qudratullah lives apart from his family. His wife said the Taliban have appeared at her residence five times in search of her husband. Their last visit occurred two weeks ago. On previous visits, fighters beat Qudratullah’s brother and father to obtain information about his whereabouts.
Although he has been referred to the Priority 2 program within the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, Qudratullah cannot afford to support his family in Pakistan during the requisite 12-18 months of processing. To pay for groceries and rent, he has taken out multiple loans. Qudratullah’s main concern is that the Taliban will fulfill recent threats to skin him alive as he awaits chief of mission approval.
Shabana also fears Taliban retribution. Prior to the Taliban’s takeover of her homeland, she promoted women’s rights through nongovernmental organizations associated with the U.S. Agency for International Development. Incensed by Shabana’s attempts to empower their wives through government programs, distant relatives turned her in to the Taliban. Shabana has moved her mother and siblings around the country to hide from the Taliban. In December 2021, Shabana left her apartment to purchase medicine for her older brother. Because she was not escorted by a male relative, Taliban fighters beat Shabana severely, leaving large bruises across her back and arm. She has since moved in with relatives to protect herself and her siblings.
Shabana applied for an SIV on Aug. 20, 2021. But she has not received a case number or chief of mission approval. She also fears for her siblings if she is able to receive an SIV. Shabana’s older brother lives with serious neurological trauma after being kidnapped and severely tortured by the Taliban in 2018. She worries her younger brother could be abducted by the Taliban to be used for “bacha bazi,” a practice in which young boys are forced to dance for and sexually gratify older men. Multiple sources in the evacuation community told me the Taliban engage in the practice. One volunteer shared multiple photographs of Taliban members behaving affectionately with their bacha bazi and of Taliban dancing boys adorned with long wigs and makeup.
The tales of these realities and others rarely escape media-restricted Afghanistan. The Taliban’s horrifying ban on girls’ secondary schools and unacceptable misogynistic oppression are often cited as the main impediments to recognizing Afghanistan’s new power-holders. Though it occurs in secret, the Taliban’s persecution of Afghans should likewise preclude their international acceptance. This should also propel efforts to remove U.S. allies from the country with greater speed.
Beth Bailey (@BWBailey85) is a freelance writer from the Detroit area.
