Taliban torture journos: ‘We could hear their screams through the walls'

We could hear their screams and cries through the walls the cellmates of the journalists tortured by the Taliban in Kabul said The cellmates had even heard the sounds of women crying from painTaliban fighters have been accused of beating and detaining journalists for covering protests in the Afghan capital Kabul Al Jazeera reportedTwo reporters for the Etilaatroz newspaper Taqi Daryabi and Nematullah Naqdi were detained by the Taliban while covering a womens protest in the west of Kabul on Wednesday morningTwo other journalists from the newspaper Aber Shaygan and Lutfali Sultani rushed to the police station along with the newspaper editor Kadhim Karimi to inquire about the whereabouts of their colleaguesAlso Read Afghan scribes thrashed with cables for covering antiTaliban protestBut the moment they reached the police station they say Taliban fighters pushed and slapped them and confiscated all their belongings including mobile phones Al Jazeera reportedKarimi barely finished his sentence when one of the Taliban slapped him and told him to get lost Shaygan told Al Jazeera adding that as soon as they introduced themselves as journalists the Taliban treated them with disdainThe three men were taken into a small holding cell with 15 people in it two of whom were reporters with Reuters and Turkeys Anadolu Agency Shaygan said the report addedIt was while they were in holding that the three heard reports of the disturbing abuse suffered by Daryabi 22 and Naqdi 28 who were being held in separate roomsWe could hear their screams and cries through the walls the cellmates said of the piercing criesThe cellmates had even heard the sounds of women crying from painPictures showed clear physical evidence of the floggings and beatings with cables both men were subject toDaryabis lower back upper legs and face were covered with deep red lesions while Naqdis left arm upper back upper legs and face were also covered in red welts the report saidThey were beaten so bad they couldnt walk They were hit with guns they were kicked they were whipped with cables they were slapped Shaygan saidHe said the violence was so brutal that Naqdi and Daryabi had lost consciousness from the painThough all five men were released after several hours in detention Shaygan said they were issued a stern warning from a Taliban official before leaving What these protesters were doing is illegal and by covering such things you all broke the law We will let you go this time but next time you wont be let out so easilyAl Jazeera said those claims of illegality by the official struck Shaygan and his colleagues as going directly against statements the Taliban have made about freedom of the press in their Islamic EmirateAt an August 17 press conference the groups spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Private media can continue to be free and independent they can continue their activities Impartiality of the media is very important They can critique our work so that we can improveMujahid made similar claims at a private gathering of journalists working for foreign media late last month At the time Mujahid encouraged journalists to be transparent and report the realities of life in a Talibanrun AfghanistanBut in the ensuing weeks Afghan social media has been full of videos and pictures showing the groups armed fighters trying to keep journalists from doing their jobDuring that time the Taliban has repeatedly been accused of abuses against journalists the report saidShaygan and his colleagues were surprised to find that other journalists who had been detained that day were in possession of letters from Mujahid that granted them the right to operate at virtually any location as journalistsThis he said was further proof of the disconnect between the leadership and the foot soldiers of the TalibanThey dont want us to operate freely they just want media to parrot their propaganda to the worldAdding to his frustration and confusion is the fact that he and his colleagues were merely inquiring about the detention of their coworkers at the time of their detention and abuseWe just wanted to find out what happened to our friendsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever