Armed Taliban forces raided the home of Afghan YouTuber, Hatam Ali Selahshor, in Kabul on Monday December 5, arresting him and six other people, including three women.
Sources told Rukhshana Media that the Taliban raided Mr. Selahshor’s house around 3:30 PM when a number of other YouTubers and their friends were celebrating Mr Selahshor’s channel hitting 20,000 subscribers.
Farhad* told Rukhshana Media that the Taliban arrested three women and four men because of their activities on YouTube and for attending the gathering. Among those arrested were Mr. Selahshor’s wife Madere Alireza, two other women who are Mr. Selahshor’s colleagues, Mohammad Reza Alizada, Zafar Hemati, and a person named Salman.
The sources did not provide details about the identity of the two unnamed women.
Rahim*, who was at the gathering when the Taliban raided it, said that the other guests were beaten by the Taliban with sticks.
Shamsia*, another attendee of the party, confirmed the violent behavior of the Taliban and said the Taliban forces also filmed each individual person at the gathering. She estimates about 65 guests had attended.
She says the Taliban detained the women in a mini-bus for about two hours, and subjected them to violence. A girl convulsed inside the vehicle and when others tried to help her, a female member of the Taliban group violently beat the girl convulsing in front of them.
Shamsia says they took statements and fingerprints from the women and girls, and they were only released once a male member of their family arrived to take them.
Those who did not have a male relative at the gathering were ordered to call one to pick them up. Once the men arrived, the Taliban also took fingerprints from some of them people and beat them, saying things like, “Why do you allow your daughters to participate in such programs?”
Rahim says the men took a lot of beatings.
“I think they took a piece of wood from inside the house, they hit me a lot. They also slapped, and kicked me a lot,” Rahim says. “Whenever we moved, they beat us.”
They also insulted an elderly man who was around 65 years old.
“They asked him to pray loudly and they would beat him when he got the words wrong,” Rahim says, adding that they threatened him saying things like, “You will die in a few days. Why did you come here?”
The Taliban also confiscated video recording equipment of the YouTubers who had their gear at the gathering.
One of Mr. Selahshor’s relatives confirmed he is still detained, but declined to provide any details for security reasons.
The women who were arrested have been released with the intervention of local mullahs, intermediaries, and through guarantees from their family members.
Shamsia says a number of female YouTubers present at the party have taken their videos down from the social media platform out of fear the Taliban will target them.
Mr. Selahshor became well known for his role in a local series called Bradare Shakkak or “Skeptical brother” which was published on YouTube. After that success, he created a YouTube channel under his own name focusing mostly on cultural content, entertainment, and aid programs.
Although Mr. Selahshur has been detained for over a week, the Taliban have not made any statements about it. The group has previously arrested other well-known YouTubers in Kabul, such as Ajmal Haqiqi and Ghulam Sakhi. They were arrested and charged with “insulting the sacred” and forced to record a public video of a confession. There is still no information about Ajmal Haqiqi’s condition, but Ghulam Sakhi, who is suffering from a mental disease, was released.
*Note: The names of the interviewees in the report have been chosen as pseudonyms due to security sensitivities.
