Nearly 4,000 prosecutors and legal staff members face the threat of violence from the Taliban in Afghanistan, where at least 28 prosecutors and their families have reportedly been killed.
When the Taliban seized back power in the country in August 2021, Sara*, who was 28 at the time, was just a few weeks shy of completing three years serving as a prosecutor in the Afghan attorney general’s office.
In the short time she spent there, Sara had worked on more than 2,000 cases of crimes against women, including murder, rape and forced marriage. All that work to ensure justice, was immediately undone.
“The Taliban came and released all the criminals we had convicted and I started to receive death threats – phone calls saying they would destroy my life and my family,” she told the Guardian, speaking from a safe house in a neighbouring country she fled to after the Taliban takeover.
Sara was no stranger to threats, and had become familiar with the risks posed by her choice of career. But among the threatening calls she received, one particular message gave her reason to fear for her life.
“I had led the investigation into a case of a 26-year-old woman who had escaped brutal abuse from her husband, who we found out was a member of the Taliban,” she said. “We summoned him with the help of the police and the case was eventually transferred to primary court. He was sentenced to six months of imprisonment.”
Despite the short sentencing, the ruling was seen as a success as it helped put a terrorist behind bars to be investigated further. However, as the Taliban started to capture cities in the summer of 2021, they began releasing prisoners in Afghan jails, including the Taliban member Sara helped convict just months prior. “He blamed me for his arrest and said he wanted revenge.”
“One night [after the takeover], a group of armed men stormed our house looking to arrest me. My husband and I managed to escape with nothing but our lives. For months after, we remained hidden [with] family, who were also targeted by the Taliban. Each moment in Afghanistan could have been our last. It was terrifying.”
Sara is among the nearly 6,000-member staff of the attorney general office that worked on implementing rule of law programmes in the emerging democracy that was Afghanistan prior to the Taliban takeover.
“Those institutions and laws don’t exist any more,” said Najia Mahmodi, a former chief prosecutor at the attorney general’s office. “Men and women who were working as lawyers, prosecutors and judges are no longer allowed to exist. There is no one to defend injustices, and our colleagues are left vulnerable to criminals seeking revenge,” she said.
Mahmodi, who is also a member of the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys Afghanistan (APA-AF) that is working in exile to support Afghan prosecutors at risk, said there were more than 3,800 prosecutors and legal staff members that remain in danger in Afghanistan.
“We know of at least 28 prosecutors and their families who were killed in the last two years in Afghanistan, as a direct result of their work,” she said.
A UN report, in January, shared similar findings: “A subset of prosecutors – especially those who investigated and prosecuted members of the Taliban – face extremely grave risks as a result of their previous work, and many reportedly remain in hiding. Reports indicate that criminal offenders who were released by the Taliban have also sought to carry out reprisals against prosecutors and judges.”
The independent legal system in Afghanistan, the report concluded, had collapsed.
The APA-AF is still working to raise funds to help relocate and support those prosecutors most at risk, many of whom were trained by the US, UK and allied nations.
For Sara, the loss was much deeper. “They abolished everything we strived for, the values of democracy and human rights that we worked hard to implement,” she said. “My ideals, dreams, and the country I had hoped to build for my children has been destroyed by the Taliban.”
*Names have been changed to protect identities
