Mohammad Yousuf Mastari, head of the Taliban’s General Directorate of Prisons, met with Fiona Frazer, the head of the Human Rights Service at the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), and called for continued and expanded assistance from UNAMA and other international organizations to Taliban-run prisons.

In a statement released on Saturday, the Taliban’s prison authority said the meeting focused on the situation of detainees, the protection of their rights, and strengthening rehabilitation and educational programs supported by international organizations in prisons.

According to the statement, Mastari expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by international organizations to prisons in Kabul and other provinces. He urged UNAMA’s human rights office to further expand its support for prisoners and detention facilities.

The Taliban statement added that Fiona Frazer assured the meeting that UNAMA would continue its cooperation and assistance to the prison authority.

UNAMA has not yet publicly commented on the meeting.

Before the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, human rights organizations, including UNAMA and the former Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, had access to prisons to monitor detention conditions and help prevent torture and other forms of abuse.

Since the Taliban takeover, however, access for independent human rights monitors to detention facilities has been significantly restricted.

Human rights organizations and UN experts have repeatedly reported allegations of torture, ill-treatment, and other abuses in Taliban-run detention facilities.