Reuters-Exclusive-Taliban weighs using US mass surveillance plan met with Chinas Huawei
September 25, 2023 6 min 1151 words
这则报道揭示了塔利班正计划建立一个大规模的摄像监控网络，以增强阿富汗城市的安全措施。有趣的是，他们考虑重用了美国在2021年撤军前设计的计划。此外，塔利班还与中国电信设备制造商华为进行了合作磋商，以寻求潜在合作。这一举措旨在阻止国际激进组织，包括伊斯兰国等，发动袭击。然而，一些分析师对这个资金紧张的政权是否有能力资助这个计划表示疑虑，人权组织也担心任何资源将被用于打压抗议活动。 这个计划引发了一系列问题和担忧。首先，塔利班如何获得了美国的监控计划，这是一个谜。此外，一些担心该计划可能会加强对民间社会成员和抗议者的监视。尽管塔利班很少确认逮捕行动，但新闻自由委员会表示，自接管以来至少有64名记者被拘留。在喀布尔的有关限制妇女的抗议活动也曾受到安全部队的强力镇压。 塔利班强烈否认升级监控系统会侵犯阿富汗人的权利，称该系统与其他主要城市使用的相似，并将依据伊斯兰教法运行，禁止在私人空间录像。 然而，实施这个大规模监控系统面临实际挑战，因为阿富汗经常出现日常电力中断，这意味着与中央电网连接的摄像头可能无法提供稳定的视频流。此外，只有40%的阿富汗人可以获得电力，这也是一个问题。塔利班还必须在大规模经济衰退和接管后的援助大幅减少之后找到资金。 此外，华为与塔利班就合同达成的问题仍不明确，这引发了一些国际担忧，尤其是考虑到中国、巴基斯坦和塔利班之间关于反恐合作的会谈。此外，伊斯兰国在阿富汗的存在也是一个严重的问题，特别是在东部山区地区。因此，城市监控可能无法完全解决这个问题。 总的来说，这个报道揭示了一个复杂的情况，其中涉及到安全、人权和国际合作等多个层面。对于国际社会来说，需要密切关注这一发展，确保阿富汗人民的权利得到尊重，同时也要努力解决恐怖主义威胁。
KABUL (Reuters) - The Taliban are creating a large-scale camera surveillance network for Afghan cities that could involve repurposing a plan crafted by the Americans before their 2021 pullout, an interior ministry spokesman told Reuters, as authorities seek to supplement thousands of cameras already across the capital, Kabul.
The Taliban administration — which has publicly said it is focused on restoring security and clamping down on Islamic State, which has claimed many major attacks in Afghan cities — has also consulted with Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei about potential cooperation, the spokesman said.
Preventing attacks by international militant groups - including prominent organisations such as Islamic State - is at the heart of the interaction between the Taliban and many foreign nations, including the U.S. and China, according to readouts from those meetings. But some analysts question the cash-strapped regime’s ability to fund the program, and rights groups have expressed concern that any resources will be used to crackdown on protesters.
Details of how the Taliban intend to expand and manage mass surveillance, including obtaining the U.S. plan, have not been previously reported.
The mass camera rollout, which will involve a focus on “important points” in Kabul and elsewhere, is part of a new security strategy that will take four years to be fully implemented, Ministry of Interior spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani told Reuters.
“At the present we are working on a Kabul security map, which is (being completed) by security experts and (is taking) lots of time,” he said. “We already have two maps, one which was made by U.S.A for the previous government and second by Turkey.”
He did not detail when the Turkish plan was made.
A U.S State Department spokesperson said Washington was not “partnering” with the Taliban and has “made clear to the Taliban that it is their responsibility to ensure that they give no safe haven to terrorists.”
A Turkish government spokesperson didn’t return a request for comment.
Qani said the Taliban had a “simple chat” about the potential network with Huawei in August, but no contracts or firm plans had been reached.
Bloomberg News reported in August that Huawei had reached “verbal agreement” with the Taliban about a contract to install a surveillance system, citing a person familiar with the discussions.
Huawei told Reuters in September that “no plan was discussed” during the meeting.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said she was not aware of specific discussions but added: “China has always supported the peace and reconstruction process in Afghanistan and supported Chinese enterprises to carry out relevant practical cooperation.”
There are over 62,000 cameras in Kabul and other cities that are monitored from a central control room, according to the Taliban. The last major update to Kabul’s camera system occurred in 2008, according to the former government, which relied heavily on Western-led international forces for security.
When NATO-led international forces were gradually withdrawing in January 2021, then-vice president Amrullah Saleh said his government would roll out a huge upgrade of Kabul’s camera surveillance system. He told reporters the $100 million plan was backed by the NATO coalition.
“The arrangement we had planned in early 2021 was different,” Saleh told Reuters in September, adding that the “infrastructure” for the 2021 plan had been destroyed.
It was not clear if the plan Saleh referenced was similar to the ones that the Taliban say they have obtained, nor if the administration would modify them.
Jonathan Schroden, an expert on Afghanistan with the Center for Naval Analyses, said a surveillance system would be “useful for the Taliban as it seeks to prevent groups like the Islamic State ... from attacking Taliban members or government positions in Kabul.”
The Taliban already closely monitor urban centres with security force vehicles and regular checkpoints.
Rights advocates and opponents of the regime are concerned enhanced surveillance might target civil society members and protesters.
Though the Taliban rarely confirm arrests, the Committee to Protect Journalists says at least 64 journalists have been detained since the takeover. Protests against restrictions on women in Kabul have been broken up forcefully by security forces, according to protesters, videos and Reuters witnesses.
Implementing a mass surveillance system “under the guise of ‘national security’ sets a template for the Taliban to continue its draconian policies that violate fundamental rights,” said Matt Mahmoudi from Amnesty International.
The Taliban strongly denies that an upgraded surveillance system would breach the rights of Afghans. Qani said the system was comparable with what other major cities utilize and that it would be operated in line with Islamic Sharia law, which prevents recording in private spaces.
The plan faces practical challenges, security analysts say.
Intermittent daily power cuts in Afghanistan mean cameras connected to the central grid are unlikely to provide consistent feeds. Only 40% of Afghans have access to electricity, according to the state-owned power provider.
The Taliban also have to find funding after a massive economic contraction and the withdrawal of much aid following their takeover.
The administration said in 2022 that it has an annual budget of over $2 billion, of which defence spending is the largest component, according to the Taliban army chief.
The discussion with Huawei occurred several months after China met with Pakistan and the Taliban’s acting foreign minister, after which the parties stressed cooperation on counter-terrorism. Tackling militancy is also a key aspect of the 2020 troop-withdrawal deal the United States struck with the Taliban.
China has publicly declared its concern over the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), an armed separatist organisation in its western Xinjiang region. Security officials and U.N. reports say ETIM likely has a small number of fighters in Afghanistan. ETIM couldn’t be reached for comment.
The Islamic State has also threatened foreigners in Afghanistan. Its fighters attacked a hotel popular with Chinese businesspeople last year, which left several Chinese citizens wounded. A Russian diplomat was also killed in one of its attacks.
The Taliban denies that militancy threatens their rule and say Afghan soil will not be used to launch attacks elsewhere. They have publicly announced raids on Islamic State cells in Kabul.
“Since early 2023, Taliban raids in Afghanistan have removed at least eight key (Islamic State in Afghanistan) leaders, some responsible for external plotting,” said U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West at a Sept. 12 public seminar.
A July U.N. monitoring report said there were up to 6,000 Islamic State fighters and their family members in Afghanistan. Analysts say urban surveillance will not fully address their presence.
The Afghan “home base” locations of Islamic State fighters are in the eastern mountainous areas, said Schroden. “So while cameras in the cities may help prevent attacks ... they’re unlikely to contribute much to their ultimate defeat.”