Taliban Release US Prisoner Daniel Quiil After Family Letter to Leader
The Taliban released American prisoner Daniel Quiil on Tuesday, according to an announcement from the Taliban Foreign Ministry. The ministry stated that the release followed a letter sent by Quiil's family to the Taliban leader.
Ata Mohammad Noor criticized the move in a statement, saying the Taliban acted out of fear of the United States while keeping thousands of innocent Afghans imprisoned. He accused the Taliban of detaining people for linguistic, ethnic or ideological reasons.
Noor highlighted that over the past five years, the Taliban have arrested and imprisoned thousands on charges of opposing the regime, participating in street protests or supporting opposition fronts. Among them are journalists held in Bagram prison for several years.
Human rights organizations have stated that most prisoners were detained due to ideological opposition to the Taliban. They report a lack of access to lawyers and unfair trial processes.
The Taliban face accusations of torturing detained journalists and extracting forced confessions. The Afghanistan Journalists Center stated last year that Taliban intelligence forced a confession from Mehdi Ansari, a reporter for the Afghan News Agency. Ansari was released last week after 28 Hoot.
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