Press review
Arrestation in Kabul, February 21- March 19 1997

UN wars Afghanistan's Taleban to release aidworkers


02:43 p.m. Feb 24, 1997 EST
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 24 (Reuter) - The United Nations on Monday warned the Islamic Tableban, Afghanistan's new rulers, it could lose humanitarian assistance and further tarnish its image if it did not release two French aid workers immediately.

Two Frenchman from the Paris-based group Action Contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger) were arrested over the weekend after a series of incidents in which Taleban militia broke into U.N. headquarters, allegedly to make sure their purist agenda was being followed.

``We are making four points to the Taleban,'' U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said. Among them was that private or non-governmental humantiarian groups, which supply considerable aid, would be ``inclined to leave Afghanistan if the two are not released.'' But Eckhard did not threaten any cut off in aid from U.N. agencies.

The Taleban was also told that its actions were a violation of diplomatic norms and that the Frenchmen should be released on humanitairan grounds because they committed no offence to justify their arrest. It was told that ``unless these two people are released the Taleban's international image would be further undermined,'' Eckhard said.

The French aid group on Friday held a farewell party for one of its staff in the U.N. compound that included 65 Afghan women and six expatriate women. The only men at the party were a cook and his assistant.

``About noon the Taleban broke into the house, told the women to put on their veils, slapped an expatriate woman and took cameras and other valuables from the premises,'' Eckhard said. ``They arrested the cook and his assistant.''

Later on the same day they forced their way into a guest house in the U.N. compound were foreigners sometimes sleep but a U.N. official persuaded them to leave and spoke to the Taleban mayor of Kabul, Eckhard added.

On Saturday, however, they showed up again and demanded that two Frenchmen come outside at which point they were arrested. The French charge d'affaires, Didier Leroy, went to see authorities in a so far unsuccessful bid to gain their release.

The Action Contre la Faim's foreign staff has now left Kabul for Pakistan.

The Taleban militia, which seized Kabul last September, apparently objected to men and women in the same compound, even though aid officials said they were in a different building to make sure they would not offend the Taleban's sensibilities.

In Kabul, the Taleban's information minister, Amir Khan Mutaqi, said the Frenchmen, Frederich Michel and Jose Daniel Llorente, were being interrogated ``to see what crimes have been committted.'' He said they had ``trampled under foot Islamic and international moral principles.''

He said they had gathered more than 50 women in their house even though ``women cannot enter places from which they have been banned.''

The Taleban has imposed a strict vision of Islamic Law in the 75 percent of the country they control, banning women from the workplace and forcing them to wear veils over their faces.

The militia has not been recognised by the United Nations or any other international body, with the group's treatment of women figuring highly in such considerations.

French aid workers still detained in Afghanistan


06:59 a.m. Feb 24, 1997 EST
KABUL, Feb 24 (Reuter) - The case of two French aid workers detained in Afghanistan for ``immoral deeds'' has been referred to the country's Attorney-General, a Taleban minister said on Monday.

``The case has been referred to the Attorney-General, and they are being interrogated to see what crimes have been committed,'' Taleban Information Minister Amir Khan Mutaqi told reporters on Monday.

The French expatriates were being held by the Islamic Taleban militia, which seized Kabul last September.

The two male employees of the Paris-based charity Action Contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger), Frederic Michel and Jose Daniel Llorente, and four of their local staff were arrested after the Taleban raided a lunch party given on Friday by ACF's expatriate female staff for local female employees.

Witnesses said Taleban soldiers entered the ACF residence and arrested some of the local staff. They also searched the residence and removed cameras, photographs, compact discs and magazines.

The two Frenchmen were arrested early on Saturday morning at the United Nations International Community building in central Kabul where they were spending the night.

The rest of the ACF international staff left Kabul on Saturday for the Pakistani border.

Mutaqi said that the men were accused of immoral activities.

``Within their institution they had committed some immoral deeds and that is why they have been detained and are still in detention. They had trampled under foot Islamic and international moral principles.'' said Mutaqi.

Mutaqi said that the Taleban had proof that the men had committed crimes.

``Reports of their innocence are totally wrong.'' he said.

``Since the Taleban came to Kabul it has been said repeatedly that women cannot enter places from which they have been banned. Despite this they had gathered more than 50 women in their house.'' he said.

An ACF account of the incident says that although there were men in the compound at the time of the lunch, they were in a different building. The ACF account says that they had taken all precautions to ensure that no offense was caused to the Taleban's Islamic sensibilites.

On Sunday the International Committee of the Red Cross said that they were concerned about the incident and would be trying to visit the six imprisoned men.

Jean-Luc Paladini of the Red Cross said early on Monday that they had so far been unable to arrange the visit.

A French diplomat is also in Kabul holding discussions with the Taleban authorities.

The purist Islamic Taleban have vowed to impose their strict interpretation of Islamic law on the whole of Afghanistan. They control more than 75 percent of the country.

The militia have introduced a number of severe restrictions on the movements and dress of women. Women are banned from working in government offices and girls' schools have been closed. Women also must wear an all-enveloping burqa, a robe that covers the body from head to toe with a cloth mesh over the face.

The Taleban have also decreed death for murder, 100 lashes and stoning to death for adulterers and amputation for theft.

ICRC expresses concern over detained aid workers


07:00 a.m. Feb 23, 1997 EST
KABUL, Feb 23 (Reuter) - The international Committee of the Red Cross expressed concern on Sunday over the detention of six aid workers arrested in Afghanistan by the Taleban authorities on Friday and Saturday.

``The International Committee of the Red Cross is deeply concerned about what happened to the expatriates and the four local staff working for Action Contre la Faim.'' said Red Cross spokesman Jean-Luc Paladini in Kabul.

Two male French employees of Action Contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger - ACF), Frederic Michel and Jose Daniel Llorente and four local male staff were arrested after a lunch organised by the organisation's expatriate female workers for local female staff.

Taleban authorities were unavailable for comment on the detentions, but the arrested men are believed to be under investigation for acts the Taleban consider immoral. There is no reliable information on the detainees' condition or whereabouts.

French aid workers still detained in Afghanistan


06:59 a.m. Feb 24, 1997 EST
KABUL, Feb 24 (Reuter) - The case of two French aid workers detained in Afghanistan for ``immoral deeds'' has been referred to the country's Attorney-General, a Taleban minister said on Monday.

``The case has been referred to the Attorney-General, and they are being interrogated to see what crimes have been committed,'' Taleban Information Minister Amir Khan Mutaqi told reporters on Monday.

The French expatriates were being held by the Islamic Taleban militia, which seized Kabul last September.

The two male employees of the Paris-based charity Action Contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger), Frederic Michel and Jose Daniel Llorente, and four of their local staff were arrested after the Taleban raided a lunch party given on Friday by ACF's expatriate female staff for local female employees.

Witnesses said Taleban soldiers entered the ACF residence and arrested some of the local staff. They also searched the residence and removed cameras, photographs, compact discs and magazines.

The two Frenchmen were arrested early on Saturday morning at the United Nations International Community building in central Kabul where they were spending the night.

The rest of the ACF international staff left Kabul on Saturday for the Pakistani border.

Mutaqi said that the men were accused of immoral activities.

``Within their institution they had committed some immoral deeds and that is why they have been detained and are still in detention. They had trampled under foot Islamic and international moral principles.'' said Mutaqi.

Mutaqi said that the Taleban had proof that the men had committed crimes.

``Reports of their innocence are totally wrong.'' he said.

``Since the Taleban came to Kabul it has been said repeatedly that women cannot enter places from which they have been banned. Despite this they had gathered more than 50 women in their house.'' he said.

An ACF account of the incident says that although there were men in the compound at the time of the lunch, they were in a different building. The ACF account says that they had taken all precautions to ensure that no offense was caused to the Taleban's Islamic sensibilites.

On Sunday the International Committee of the Red Cross said that they were concerned about the incident and would be trying to visit the six imprisoned men.

Jean-Luc Paladini of the Red Cross said early on Monday that they had so far been unable to arrange the visit.

A French diplomat is also in Kabul holding discussions with the Taleban authorities.

The purist Islamic Taleban have vowed to impose their strict interpretation of Islamic law on the whole of Afghanistan. They control more than 75 percent of the country.

The militia have introduced a number of severe restrictions on the movements and dress of women. Women are banned from working in government offices and girls' schools have been closed. Women also must wear an all-enveloping burqa, a robe that covers the body from head to toe with a cloth mesh over the face.

The Taleban have also decreed death for murder, 100 lashes and stoning to death for adulterers and amputation for theft.

 

UN envoy visits

detained French

workers in Kabul

KABUL: UN envoy Norbert Holl was to visit two French aid workers imprisony the Taliban in Kabul on Tuesday, prison authorities said.

Frederic Michel and Jose Daniel Llorente, who work for the humanitarian relief agency Action Contre la Faim (ACF), or Action Against Hunger, were arrested 18 days ago by the Taliban on charges of violating Shariat or Islamic law.

The visit by Holl, who flew into Kabul on Tuesday for a one-day stay, is seen by the Western aid community as a positive sign.

"We expect that the Taliban may soon allow them to be freed," said one aid worker.

The alleged Islamic violations by the two Frenchmen basically concern the illegal mixing of Afghan women with foreigners.

Unofficially many Taliban officials have expressed the belief that the two young Frenchmen would be released without harm in the near future -- but the official verdict will depend on the decision of the Supreme Court.

On a visit to downtown Sedarat Prison where the two are being held, an AFP correspondent saw that a new Afghan rug had been placed in their cell.

Prison authorities made no secret of the fact that this redecoration was due to the visit by Holl, chief of the UN Special Mission to Afghanistan (UNSMA).

The two Frenchmen have been well looked after by the Taliban. Kabul expatriates are allowed to visit the prisoners and bring gifts of food, books and news of the outside world.

Their "cell" is in fact a second-storey former prison office, and although there are bars on the one window the rickety wooden door is seldom locked and the two Frenchmen freely use the toilet in the corridor.

They have electric lighting from one naked ceiling bulb, a wooden stove for heating, and no shortage of mattresses and blankets for bedding.

Five Afghan male employees of ACF who were also arrested by the Taliban on similar charges are in the same prison. Their condition is likewise satisfactory.

Holl is reportedly scheduled to meet with senior Taliban officials, including Mullah Mohammad Rabbani, the head of the ruling council in Kabul and second in the hierachy of the religious militia to supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

The Taliban state-run news service -- Radio Sharia -- Monday night broadcast that in the Taliban's southern capital of Kandahar Mullah Omar met with Chief Justice Mawlavi Abdul Ghafoor Sonani, on the same day.

"They discussed ways to improve the affairs of Sharia courts in the country," the radio reported.

It was not stated whether the case of the two ACF Frenchmen came under discussion.-AFP

Afghan charity workers receive lashing, set free


08:55 a.m. Apr 07, 1997 EST
KABUL, April 7 (Reuter) - Five local employees of a Paris-based aid organisation have been released by the purist Islamic Taleban after receiving lashings on Monday for being in the same compound as unveiled Afghan women.

``The five men were released today after receiving a symbolic lashing on their backs and legs,'' Jean-Fabrice Pietri, the director of Action Contre la Faim's (Action Against Hunger) Afghan programme, said on Monday.

The five Afghans, with two Frenchmen, were arrested on February 21 after a lunch given by the charity's female ex-patriates for their Afghan female employees.

The seven men were tried and found guilty on March 21 of crimes associated with being in the same compound as unveiled Afghan women.

The two Frenchmen, Jose Daniel Llorente and Frederic Michel, were sentenced to a month in prison -- which they were deemed to have already served -- and to deportation. They were released and left the country on the day of the trial.

The five local staff were sentenced to one and a half months in prison and between 9 and 29 lashes.

Cook Nur Mohammed received the harshest sentence -- 29 lashes -- for being caught trying to escape the scene of the lunch disguised in a woman's veil and shoes.

Since the Taleban took Kabul last September, they have decreed that women should wear an all-enveloping, shroud-like veil when in the public and in the presence of men who are not family members.

Pietri said that although he believed the men were innocent, he thought the way that the judge had administered the punishment showed leniency.

``On principle, we are not satisfied because we believe that these men are innocent, but the way they applied the punishment was not so bad,'' he said.

``The cook's 29 lashes were over in 29 seconds, and the men were allowed to keep their clothes on. They were all wearing three pull-overs,'' he said.

``The whipping happened outside in the court compound with probably 30 people looking on. The whip was a flexible piece of thick leather about 60 centimetres (24 inches) long and 6 centimetres (2 1/2 inches) wide,'' he said.

Pietri said that all the punished men would return to work after a holiday.

The ACF runs a number of emergency feeding clinics in Kabul for about 8,500 malnourished children.

``We will restart our full programme in Kabul: it was our condition for restarting that our guys were released in good health. We are working for the people and the needs are still there,'' Pietri said.

``We have received guarantees that we can continue as before, including our women staff,'' he said.

 

Jakarta Post, Indonesia, 8 April 1997
Afghan charity workers receive lashing, set free
KABUL (Reuter) -- Five local employees of a Paris-based aid organization have been released by the purist Taleban after receiving lashings yesterday for being in the same compound as unveiled Afghan women.

"The five men were released today after receiving a symbolic lashing on their backs and legs", Jean-Fabrice Pietri, the director of Action Contre la Faim's (Action Against Hunger) Afghan program, said yesterday.

The five Afghans, with two Frenchmen, were arrested on Feb. 21 after a lunch given by the charity's female expatriates for their Afghan female employees.

The seven men were tried and found guilty on March 21 of crimes associated with being in the same compound as unveiled Afghan women.

The two Frenchmen, Jose Daniel Llorente and Frederic Michel, were sentenced to a month in prison -- which they were deemed to have already served -- and to deportation. They were released and left the country on the day of the trial.

The five local staff were sentenced to one and a half months in prison and between 9 and 29 lashes.

Cook Nur Mohammed received the harshest sentence -- 29 lashes -- for being caught trying to escape the scene of the lunch disguised in a woman's veil and shoes.

Since the Taleban took Kabul last September, they have decreed that women should wear an all-enveloping, shroud-like veil when in the public and in the presence of men who are not family members.

Pietri said that although he believed the men were innocent, he thought the way that the judge had administered the punishment showed leniency.

"On principle, we are not satisfied because we believe that these men are innocent, but the way they applied the punishment was not so bad," he said.

"The cook's 29 lashes were over in 29 seconds, and the men were allowed to keep their clothes on. They were all wearing three pullovers," he said.

"The whipping happened outside in the court compound, with probably 30 people looking on. The whip was a flexible piece of thick leather about 60 centimetres long and 6 centimetres wide," he said.

Pietri said that all the punished men would return to work after a holiday.

The ACF runs a number of emergency feeding clinics in Kabul for about 8,500 malnourished children.

"We will restart our full program in Kabul: it was our condition for restarting that our guys were released in good health. We are working for the people and the needs are still there," Pietri said.

"We have received guarantees that we can continue as before, including our women staff," he said.


José Bideguain (ACF president), André Santini (Issy les Moulineaux Mayor), me, mother and father
Mars 1997, cocktail for our release by Issy les Moulieaux City Council

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