Taliban’s CCTV Installation Puts Freedom of Afghans At Risk, Warns Amnesty International

On Thursday, Amnesty International said that by installing thousands of new security cameras, the Taliban are creating a total surveillance system on Afghan citizens.

This organisation said that the Taliban has installed 62,000 security cameras in Kabul and other parts of the country.

On Wednesday, the Taliban's Ministry of Interior announced that it had installed security cameras to ensure the security of Kabul city and parts of the capital.

Hedayatullah Hedayat, Taliban’s Deputy Director General of Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), wrote on social media platform X, that with the cooperation of the people, 60,000 security cameras had been installed in parts of Kabul city.

Amnesty International has warned that the Taliban is violating the freedom and privacy of people, especially women, by installing these surveillance cameras under the guise of providing security.

Matt Mahmoudi, Amnesty International’s researcher said, "This surveillance architecture would also erode the rights to privacy and freedom of assembly and expression, which have been under unprecedented attack since the Taliban came to power, resulting in the rule of law fading away.”

It has been said that the Chinese company, Huawei, is cooperating with the Taliban in setting up this system.

The Taliban have said that these cameras are necessary to fight crime and other threats.

Rights groups have repeatedly warned that authoritarian governments, such as China and Iran, use these cameras to identify and arrest their opponents.