01/05/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09627

TALEBAN TORTURE REVEALED

"In the name of God, the most merciful and compassionate." These words precede every prayer in the Islamic faith. They remind Muslims that compassion and mercy are moral duties ordained by God. But mercy and compassion are apparently unknown to the leaders of the Taleban and the al-Qaida terrorists they protected. Ask the people of Afghanistan.

Free after five years of terror, the Afghan people are counting the costs of Taleban rule. The economic costs are measured in a shattered economy and millions who were on the verge of starvation. The human costs are measured in the number of missing, maimed, and dead.

In cities and towns throughout Afghanistan, the Taleban's legacy can be seen in bloodstained torture chambers and sports stadiums that served as public execution centers. According to news reports, the stadium in Kandahar, the former Taleban stronghold, was one of the busiest. There, desperate women, forced by poverty into prostitution, were tied to goal posts and shot. Starving men, who stole to keep alive, had their hands hacked off.

Many victims were merely suspected of disloyalty to the Taleban regime. "Under the Taleban rules, you can't touch the woman and you can't deliver a baby even if the woman's life is in danger," said one doctor. He says he was imprisoned by the Taleban, tortured, and kept in solitary confinement for a month. A rocket strike on the prison by opposition forces made possible the doctor's escape.

Others were not so lucky. A young man named Abdullah was arrested by Taleban security forces in Kandahar on November 28^th. His family says he had been outspoken in his dislike for the Taleban and their al-Qaida terrorist associates. For that, he was arrested and beaten to death. Former Taleban members say that among his torturers was Sayf al-Adl, an Egyptian member of al-Qaida, reportedly wanted by Egyptian authorities for terrorist activities. Others have reported that al-Qaida terrorists took an active part in their interrogation and torture.

These victims of the Taleban and al-Qaida were denied compassion and mercy. They must not be denied justice.