Contact Admin. A climate of fear exists in much of southeast Afghanistan. Troops and police in many parts of the region, and parts of Kabul itself, are invading private homes, usually at night, and robbing and assaulting civilians. By force or by ruse, soldiers and police gain entry into homes and hold people hostage for hours, terrorizing them with weapons, stealing their valuables, and sometimes raping women and girls.
On the roads and at proliferating official and unofficial checkpoints, local soldiers and police extort money from civilians under the threat of beating or arrest.
Troops and police also extort money from shopkeepers and arbitrarily arrest and hold people for ransom, possibly torturing some. Rape of women, girls, and boys, often in connection with the above-described abuses, is common and almost never reported.
This section documents these abuses and their effects on local populations and on returning refugees. In both Nangarhar and in its capital, Jalalabad, Human Rights Watch found a pattern of arbitrary arrests by local police and army troops under the command of Hazrat Ali, the military commander for the Eastern Region of Afghanistan, and his brother-in-law, Musa, a high-level military commander in Nangarhar.
A student told Human Rights Watch about an arbitrary arrest and beating in Jalalabad in February by a police official under the authority of Hazrat Ali:. I will tell you: For instance, a friend of mine [name deleted] had gone to a wedding party. It was after eight, and he was returning to his home. He was arrested by police and put in jail. But after paying them afghanis [U.
