I have lost six brothers

Note: Mr. Aref has been a teacher for many years and has lost thirteen members of his family during the wars and violence in Afghanistan. He himself has the scars of violence on his body.

Narrator: Aziz Ahmad Aref (brother of the victim)

Victim: Sultan Ahmad Sohrab

Time of the incident: 1980

The place of the incident: Polygon of Pol-e Charkhi

I am 56-years-old. We were thirteen brothers and one sister. I am the ninth brother and Sultan Ahmad was six years older than me. Sultan Ahmad was born in 1953 in Kabul. He attended elementary school in Bamiyan, Parwan, and Kabul. He joined Habibiah High School in 1967 and graduated from Habibiah High School in 1974. When he was at Habibiah High School, it was considered the brilliant era of intellectual struggles and political parties of different tendencies were formed. These parties were formed in two main ways, one of which was the new democratic tendency, which founded the Progressive Youth Organization under the leadership of Akram Yari. Its members were Sadeq Yari, Engineer Osman, Dr. Hadi Mahmoudi, etc. Sultan Ahmad was also a member of this organization. Sultan Ahmad joined the Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences in 1973 and graduated from the history and geography department in 1976. When Sultan was in university, Dawood Khan had banned political activities. Also, Shoalah Javid, a political party, had split. At that time, he was a member of the revolutionary group of The Peoples of Afghanistan. In 1978, with the cooperation of Akram Yari, they founded the Organization for the Liberation of the Peoples of Afghanistan (Sorkha), which published the first night magazine and a book called 'The Growth of Bourgeoisie in Afghanistan,' written by Akram Yari. Later, almost all the members of this organization were arrested and executed in February 1978.

In June 1979, there were four left and national parties and organizations united under the name 'Afghanistan National Fighters' Front.' On 05 August 1979, they revolted against the Khalq & Percham's regime. Sultan Ahmed was arrested because they did not recognize him, but he was soon released. In 1979, he founded the Fight to Save Afghanistan organization, in which he was in its leadership. The government of that time broke into this organization and in 1980, almost all the members of the organization's leadership were arrested and sent to prison. They were first sentenced to death. Later, the death sentence was reduced to twenty years of imprisonment. I must say that one of the leaders of this organization named Hakim Tawana surrendered to the then government. When he was released from prison, he had written books against the movement of intellectuals.

Sultan had been severely tortured in prison and had spent months in solitary confinement, as a result of which his back and neck vertebrae were dislocated. In 1988, after spending 12 years in prison, he was released while we were in Pakistan. I had also been released from prison and could not live in Kabul. Sultan went to Peshawar. On January 5, 1989, after 25 days of freedom, he was arrested by Golbudin Hekmatyar kidnappers. We still have no information about him.

One of his friends wrote in his memoir: "I met Ustad Sultan in Peshawar and jokingly told him that your security situation is not good and you should go to Europe. He said with a firm tone, 'My friends are being executed one by one, how can I leave this country? I will die any horrible death you want. I will not accept this brutish life.'"

My brothers and I tried hard to find him. After a lot of research, we came to the conclusion that the Sultan was kidnapped by Hizb-e-Islami with the help of ISI, the Pakistani intelligence. Sultan had a passionate life. In addition to being my brother, he was like a leader, guide, and teacher for me, and he was a very close friend. We had a football team where we were almost all brothers. Sultan Ahmad was a master historian, poet, and professional writer. He remained loyal to his ideals until the last drop of his blood. When he was in prison, I was also in prison. Unfortunately, the conditions were so tight that I could not meet him. I only managed to meet him twice. A brother of mine named Shakur was also imprisoned with me.

We were playing volleyball in the prison, so we decided that Shakur would not play volleyball and sit in the audience [so that he could meet Sultan]. Ten minutes later, the intelligence/Khadists realized that the two people were not allowed to meet. They separate them with humiliation and punches and kicks.

Inside the prison, the prisoners were subjected to mental torture. For example, beating my brothers in front of my eyes. In addition, sleeplessness, pulling nails, and beatings with cable were considered common daily tortures. Sultan was in a solitary confinement for eight months. The lock-up cell's room was 1.2 meters. This room was humid and never had sunlight. In July 1979, four of our brothers were imprisoned: me, Shakur, Sharif, and Dawood. From the four of us, they executed Dawood, whose name is on the Exa list.

In Pakistan, Shakur, Sultan, Mahmood, and Mirwais were kidnapped by Hizb-e-Islami. Shakur and Sultan were also imprisoned in Kabul, and Karim was martyred in the attack by the Russians in Noor Valley District.

I have many memories of Sultan. We played in the same team and he was my teacher, both during education and school and in relation to political issues. I have learned many things from Sultan, from eating bread to social etiquette. One day, Sultan and I were walking in Makrorian area and it was snowing heavily. A young girl slipped and fell to the ground. I laughed. Sultan advised me not to laugh because this girl needs help now and we should never offend anyone. And always in all cases we must think humanly.

At that time, Sultan was about 25-years-old, but he adapted his approach to time and place. Sultan was always aware of all family members and took care of them. I learned from Sultan never to waste anyone's rights and how to defend my rights. Sultan taught me to know the rights of others and to defend our rights. These are a series of apparently small issues, but they are of great spiritual value. This issue of who is the main person responsible in this matter is very complicated. But as for who is to blame, that issue is as clear as day. The people objectively and mentally were not ready for the reform that the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan had imposed. This party massacred its opponents without cause.

While in the first months we did not show any opposition, they called us their main enemy and put us in prison, tortured, and killed us. It is possible that the opposition was limited to pen and paper, but they used ropes and guns against pen and paper and killed our people. So naturally people revolted against them, which is still going on. Everyday, we witness the killing of a large number of our compatriots.

I have spent my whole life in the struggle for justice. If anyone takes a step, even a small one, I will accompany them for the right to reach the rightful. Those who oppressed/persecuted the nation should be punished. While my hand is completely empty, I am not disappointed in the fight for justice.