IEA rejects Amnesty’s claim cameras erode privacy rights

Interior Ministry has denied the claim of an Amnesty International official suggesting that the installation of 62,000 security cameras in Kabul and other areas would erode the rights to privacy.

Matt Mahmoudi, Amnesty International’s Researcher and Advisor on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, said in a statement on Thursday this surveillance architecture would erode the rights to privacy and freedom of assembly and expression.

Interior Ministry’s spokesman Abdul Matin Qani, however, rejected the claim and emphasized that the installation of security cameras is a security necessity, which is common in other countries.

“When America and NATO were conducting surveillance activities in all zones of the country, including Kabul, to achieve their goals and gather intelligence information, why didn’t the defenders of privacy rights raise their voice?”

Qani emphasized that the Islamic Emirate is committed to Sharia principles and Sharia does not allow people’s privacy to be threatened.

He said that security cameras were installed in consultation with the people and the Ministry of Interior did not specify which specific place to install them. He added that the camera control rooms are also protected and no one has the right to access it.