Anfragebeantwortung zu Afghanistan: Informationen zu Entführungen von Verwandten von Regierungsbeamten durch die Taliban zur Erpressung von Lösegeld oder der Freilassung von Gefangenen [a-9234-1]

17. uni 2015

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EXOP, ein in Deutschland ansässiges Unternehmen, das eigenen Angaben zufolge Risikomanagementlösungen für Geschäftstätigkeiten im Ausland anbietet, geht in einem im April 2015 veröffentlichten Überblick zum Entführungsrisiko in verschiedenen Ländern wie folgt auf die Lage in Afghanistan ein:

„In Afghanistan, the expected widening of the security void after the withdrawal of US and international troops may increase criminal and terrorist activities in the country. In particular the Sunni extremist Taliban and the Islamist insurgent al-Haqqani network are expected to continue abducting local and foreign nationals alike for ransom and political purposes. However, the kidnapping risk may reduce in case of successful peace negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government.” (EXOP, April 2015, S. 3)

In einem von der UNO-Generalversammlung im Dezember 2014 veröffentlichten Bericht des UNO-Generalsekretärs zur Lage in Afghanistan finden sich folgende Informationen zu Entführungen durch regierungsfeindliche Elemente:

„Anti-Government elements continued to use targeted killings and abductions to exert control and influence on the population. Between 16 August and 15 November 2014, there were 235 incidents of assassinations and 92 abductions, a 9 per cent increase compared with the same period in 2013, during which 211 incidents and 89 abductions were recorded.” (UNO-Generalversammlung, 9. Dezember 2014, S. 6)

Das US-amerikanische Außenministerium (US Department of State, USDOS) schreibt in seinem Länderbericht zur Menschenrechtslage vom Februar 2014 Folgendes zu Entführungen in den Jahren 2012 und 2013:

„The Ministry of Interior’s Anticrime Police reported 102 abductions during 2012, as the Taliban targeted construction and mining projects, teachers, and citizens perceived to be cooperating with the international community (see section 1.b.). The actual number of cases may have been much higher, and this trend continued during the year.” (USDOS, 27. Februar 2014, Section 1g)

Das UNO-Hochkommissariat für Menschenrechte erwähnt in einem vom UNO-Menschenrechtsrat (UN Human Rights Council, HRC) im Jänner 2014 veröffentlichten Bericht zur Menschenrechtslage in Afghanistan, dass Kinder unter anderem wegen der Aktivitäten ihrer Familienangehörigen entführt worden seien:

„Grave violations against children also included abductions, with 13 verified incidents from the eastern, south-eastern and the southern regions of the country [between 1 January to 30 November 2013]. At least 7 of the 27 victims were executed following abduction. Children were abducted for reasons including recruitment into armed groups, punishment for alleged suspicious activities or the activities of their family members, and reprisals.” (HRC, 10. Jänner 2014, S. 8)

Auch der UNO-Generalsekretär erwähnt in einem im Mai 2013 veröffentlichten Bericht an die UNO-Generalversammlung, dass Kinder als Einschüchterung in Fällen entführt worden seien, in denen ihre Familienangehörigen vermeintlich oder tatsächlich für die Regierung oder die internationalen Truppen gearbeitet hätten:

„The country task force reported 18 incidents of abduction involving 67 boys [in 2012]. Verified information attributed the cases to the Taliban, the local police and other pro-Government militias. Children were abducted for the purposes of recruitment, sexual abuse and also intimidation in cases in which families worked or were perceived to be working for the Government or the international military forces.” (UNO-Generalversammlung, 15. Mai 2013, S. 8)

Antonio Giustozzi, Afghanistan-Experte vom King’s College London, erklärt in einem Bericht vom September 2011, es gebe Belege dafür, dass die Taliban zumindest in der Provinz Ghazni Familienangehörige von Regierungsbeamten bedrohen oder entführen würden, um die Beamten zur Aufgabe ihres Jobs zu zwingen:

„The targeting of relatives in order to put pressure on government collaborators is occurring, although the scale of it is difficult to assess. There is evidence that the Taliban at least in Ghazni threaten or kidnap family members of government officials to force them to quit their job.” (Giustozzi, 9. September 2011, S. 12)

Im Februar 2015 veröffentlicht der UNO-Sicherheitsrat einen Brief von Jim McLay, dem Vorsitzenden des Ausschusses des Sicherheitsrats nach Resolution 1988 (2011), der einen Bericht des Teams für analytische Unterstützung und Sanktionsüberwachung enthält. Dieser Bericht geht wie folgt auf von den Taliban durchgeführte Entführungen zur Erpressung von Lösegeld ein:

„The use of abductions by the Taliban to generate assets demonstrates the network’s drive to become, at least in part, a crime cartel in spite of the fact that publically the Taliban propaganda apparatus attempts to portray a different picture of the movement. In the past three editions of the Taliban ‘internal guidelines’ (layeha) it is stressed that abduction for ransom should not be carried out. Nevertheless, between 2003 and 2014 the Taliban regularly abducted Afghans and foreigners in Afghanistan in increasing numbers. This was frequently done by a small Taliban group stopping public transport vehicles on a main road and pulling out individuals they believed to be unsupportive of the insurgency. While some of those individuals would be executed on the spot, most were held nearby so that ransom payments could be extracted from their relatives. Starting in 2005, the road between Kandahar and Herat, and then starting in 2006, the road between Kabul and Kandahar, were regularly targeted. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the release involved the intervention of local elders and peer community pressure, exposing the local roots of most Taliban units. […]

Increasingly in kidnapping cases, the mantle of ideological conflict and political demands are used by the Taliban or criminal groups acting on their behalf to cover up the extraction of ransom payments. The victims in the first years of the insurgency were exposed by having contracts with the Government or the international community or by belonging to ethnic or tribal groups seen as not supportive of the Taliban. Over time, however, the abductors shifted their focus from using abductions as an instrument of intimidation and terror to targeting financially valuable international targets or financially well-off local Afghans from whom increased ransoms could be expected.” (UNO-Sicherheitsrat, 2. Februar 2015, S. 14-15)

In einem Artikel vom Oktober 2010 erwähnt die Internationale Sicherheitsunterstützungstruppe (International Security Assistance Force, ISAF) einen Entführer-Ring in Kabul, der die Familien von Regierungsbeamten ins Visier genommen habe:

„The International Security Assistance Force confirmed the leaders of a Kabul-based kidnapped ring were detained by Afghan National Security Forces and ISAF, Saturday. The men were arrested during a joint ANSF and ISAF mission to free a child the group kidnapped. Reportedly, the kidnapping ring targeted Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan officials' families to attempt to influence them to act in favor of the Taliban. […] The kidnapped boy, the son of an Afghan government official, was unharmed and reunited with his family.” (ISAF, 18. Oktober 2010)

Die afghanische Nachrichtenagentur Pajhwok Afghan News (PAN) berichtet im Jänner 2014 über eine Zunahme der Entführungen zur Erpressung von Lösegeld in der Provinz Nangarhar:

„Residents of eastern Nangarhar province say they are worried about increasing incidents of kidnapping for ransom, as so far 20 hostage-taking events were staged this solar year. Many of those kidnapped were freed after they paid the ransom money, but some remained missing and others were found dead after being abducted, they said. […]

Those kidnapped over the past few months included government officials, businessmen, private companies’ staffers and civilians. Prominent among them are transporter Ahmad Shah Sadat, MTN mobile phone company official Eng. Zarghon Shah, former Afghanistan central bank chief Shahzada Mazlomyar, Wolesi Jirga member Haji Hazrat Ali’s brother-in-law Mumtaz, Nangarhar Attorney Abdul Qayyum’s brother, a mine-clearing agency’s head Eng. Bismillah and family members of money-changers and traders. […]

Political expert Mohammad Anwar Sultani told Pajhwok News there had lately been a dramatic increase in incidents of kidnapping for ransom in Nangarhar.” (PAN, 21. Jänner 2014)

Die US-amerikanische Tageszeitung Washington Post erwähnt in einem Artikel vom April 2013 eine Zunahme der Entführungen zur Erpressung von Lösegeld in Herat, Kabul und Dschalalabad. Einige afghanische Beamte seien der Meinung, dass das Lösegeld in den Händen der Taliban lande, während andere von einer Beteiligung hochrangiger Regierungsbeamter ausgehen würden:

„Last year, nearly 500 people in Herat were arrested on kidnapping charges, compared with about a dozen five years ago, according to Afghan officials. Perpetrators asked for millions in ransom, targeting the families of industrialists, politicians and bankers, who typically remain quiet about the cases and often flee the country after they are resolved.

Other relatively peaceful parts of the country, including Kabul and Jalalabad, also have experienced a surge in abductions that weak police forces have been unable to stem, causing top U.S. and Afghan officials to worry about a threat to stability as insidious as any insurgency but with financial, not ideological, objectives. […]

Police investigations have yielded little insight into the character of the kidnapping networks that are plaguing Herat. There are mixed views about whether they are vast, well-connected enterprises or small-scale operations. Some Afghan officials contend that part of the ransoms end up in the hands of the Taliban, hundreds of miles away. Others say high-level government officials are involved.” (Washington Post, 24. April 2013)

BBC News berichtet im September 2013 über folgenden Entführungsfall in der Provinz Ghazni:

„Female Afghan MP Fariba Ahmadi Kakar has been released by her Taliban kidnappers, the Taliban and Afghan officials say. She and her children were abducted at gunpoint last month by insurgents in the central province of Ghazni on the main highway from Kabul to Kandahar. Officials say that she was handed over by the Taliban to local elders on Saturday night. She was reportedly freed in exchange for five Taliban fighters. Six family members of Taliban militants were also released, officials say. […] Ms Kakar's three children and her driver were released by the Taliban soon after they were abducted on 14 August. […]

Kidnapping has been an increasing problem in Afghanistan in recent years - government officials, wealthy people or their relatives are abducted mostly by criminal groups who either demand a ransom or sell them to the insurgents.” (BBC News, 8. September 2013)

Die US-amerikanische Tageszeitung New York Times (NYT) berichtet in einem Artikel vom Juli 2011 über die Entführung und Tötung des Kindes eines Polizisten. Der Polizist habe sich geweigert, den Entführern, bei denen es sich vermutlich um Taliban-Kämpfer gehandelt habe, sein Fahrzeug zu übergeben:

„Kidnappers believed to be Taliban abducted the 8-year-old son of a police officer in southern Afghanistan, strangled him with a man’s shawl and dumped his body into a stream during the weekend, in apparent retaliation for the father’s refusal to give them his police truck.

The boy’s killing was confirmed by local police and government officials, as well as the head of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, who called it part of a pattern of Taliban killings of children who have glancing or even suspected connections to Afghan security forces or the contingents of NATO troops in the country. The Taliban denied responsibility. ‘There are many other examples of these gruesome acts of violence,’ said Nader Nadery, a human-rights advocate. ‘It looks to be widespread and systematic.’

The boy’s father, Mohammed Daoud, 36, is a driver for the local police commander in the Gereshk District in Helmand Province. The job gave him access to the force’s green pickup truck, and made him a target for militants, who have stolen police vehicles and used security uniforms to deceive checkpoint guards and carry out attacks.” (NYT, 24. Juli 2011)

Der vom US-amerikanischen Kongress finanzierte Rundfunkveranstalter Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) erwähnt in einem Artikel vom April 2014 über die Entführung eines stellvertretenden Ministers in Kabul, dass Entführungen durch die Taliban relativ häufig vorkommen würden:

„An Afghan deputy minister has been abducted in Kabul. Officials said Ahmad Shah Wahid, the deputy public works minister, was on his way to work on April 15 when he was attacked by unknown gunmen. […] Kidnappings for ransom and abductions by the Taliban are relatively common in Afghanistan, but Wahid is believed to be the highest-level Afghan official abducted in years.” (RFE/RL, 15. April 2014)

 

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Quellen: (Zugriff auf alle Quellen am 17. Juni 2015)

·      BBC News: Afghan MP Fariba Ahmadi Kakar freed by the Taliban, 8. September 2013
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-24006680

·      EXOP: EXOP Kidnapping Risk Overview: Overview November 2014 – April 2015, April 2015
http://www.exop-group.com/src/Frontend/Files/userfiles/files/DE/MediaCentre/News/04_2015_EXOP_KidnappingRiskOverview.pdf

·      Giustozzi, Antonio: Afghanistan: Human Rights and Security Situation, 9. September 2011 (veröffentlicht von Landinfo, verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/1788_1317648256_1745-1.pdf

·      HRC - UN Human Rights Council: Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan and on the achievements of technical assistance in the field of human rights in 2013 [A/HCR/25/41], 10. Jänner 2014 (verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/1930_1390309443_a-hrc-25-41-en.doc

·      ISAF - International Security Assistance Force (ISAF): UPDATE: Kidnapped Child Freed, Head of Kidnapping Ring Detained, 18. Oktober 2010 (verfügbar auf Website der Resolute Support Mission)
http://www.rs.nato.int/article/isaf-releases/update-kidnapped-child-freed-head-of-kidnapping-ring-detained.html

·      NYT - New York Times: Taliban Blamed in Death of Afghan Officer’s 8-Year-Old Son, 24. Juli 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/25/world/asia/25afghan.html

·      PAN - Pajhwok Afghan News: Sharp rise in kidnappings in Afghan province, 21. Jänner 2014 (verfügbar auf Website der Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan)
http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2014/01/21/sharp-rise-in-kidnappings-in-afghan-province.html

·      RFE/RL - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Afghan Deputy Minister Kidnapped In Kabul, 15. April 2014 (verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/local_link/273936/402980_de.html

·      UNO-Generalversammlung: Children and armed conflict; Report of the Secretary-General, 15. Mai 2013 (verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/1226_1371638020_2013-20un-20report-20on-20children-20and-20ac.pdf

·      UNO-Generalversammlung: The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security [A/69/647–S/2014/876], 9. Dezember 2014 (verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/1226_1420629238_n1466128-afg.pdf

·      UNO-Sicherheitsrat: Letter dated 2 February 2015 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011) addressed to the President of the Security Council [S/2015/79], 2. Februar 2015
http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/s_2015_79.pdf

·      USDOS - US Department of State: Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2013 - Afghanistan, 27. Februar 2014 (verfügbar auf ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/local_link/270628/399487_de.html

·      Washington Post: In model Afghan city, kidnappings surge, 24. April 2013
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/in-model-afghan-city-kidnappings-surge/2013/04/24/2cf88976-a6b4-11e2-9e1c-bb0fb0c2edd9_story.html