Quebecers intercepted in Afghanistan | “I had no handcuffs”

Intercepted at a checkpoint by the Taliban in January, Quebecer François-Xavier Paradis-Garneau says he underwent an “inspection” rather than an arrest

Florence Morin Martel
The Press

Nearly two and a half months after being intercepted by the Taliban at a checkpoint, a young Quebecer says in his first interview with Canadian media that he has no connection with the Islamic State group, contrary to suspicions reported to the time.

On January 14, the Global News television network revealed that François-Xavier Paradis-Garneau had been arrested by the Taliban during his stay in Afghanistan. According to the channel, the Afghan authorities suspected the 23-year-old man of having links with the Islamic State group, but they had not provided evidence or brought charges in this regard. He was reportedly released three days after his interception. In an interview with The Pressit tells a very different story.

A seasoned traveler, Mr. Paradis-Garneau says he visited Pakistan in September. The bachelor in English linguistics and literature would then have set sail for Afghanistan in December, believing that the situation was now safe. The Taliban had just regained power in August, after the withdrawal of foreign troops present in the country. This departure put an end to 20 years of war triggered by the intervention of an international coalition led by the Americans, launched after the attacks of September 11, 2001. Less than a month after his arrival in the country, he was intercepted at a checkpoint.

François-Xavier Paradis-Garneau says he “was treated really well” by those who interrupted his trip in the province of Farah, in the west of the country. He speaks of an “inspection” to verify his identity, rather than an arrest. “I wasn’t totally free, I couldn’t leave, he says. But I had no handcuffs. The guys invited me to eat chicken with them. »

The traveler said he was not worried because he had experienced a similar incident for the first time during his trip to Afghanistan and he “felt safe”.

Originally from Quebec City, the man denies any link with the Islamic State group. An Afghan policeman in charge of diplomatic relations, Ahmad Abdullah, confirmed to The Press what Mr. Paradis-Garneau said. “The problem he encountered in the province of Farah is due to poor communication, explains the peace officer, contacted in Kabul. He didn’t understand Pashto [l’une des langues parlées en Afghanistan] and the employees at the checkpoint did not understand English. »

After this incident, the government reportedly gave Mr. Paradis-Garneau a letter, which The Press consulted, claiming that he did indeed go to the country “with a legal tourist visa”. A document that helped him during his visit to other checkpoints, he says.

Contacted by The Press regarding the report concerning Mr. Paradis-Garneau’s interception, the Global News television network did not respond to our interview requests.

On Afghan soil

Back in Pakistan since February 28, François-Xavier Paradis-Garneau says he made a 10-week trip during which he visited the four corners of Afghanistan. Before leaving, he claims to have learned about the situation in the country from the Afghan consulate in Pakistan, as well as from people contacted through the Couchsurfing temporary accommodation network.

After obtaining a visa, Mr. Paradis-Garneau said he crossed into Afghanistan on December 18, at the Torkham border crossing, 200 km east of Kabul. In the capital, he met Ahmad Abdullah, the police officer in charge of diplomatic relations, to have his trip approved by the authorities, he says.

François-Xavier Paradis-Garneau would have shown his phone to Mr. Abdullah and the latter would have wished him “a good stay”, he says.

The traveler then went to the province of Badghis, in the northwest of the country. Having seen few Westerners, locals thought he was coming “for a polio vaccination campaign,” he said.

At this place, he says he was intercepted for the first time in his trip by a local chief, on December 28. The man asked him to wait in his house while he checked to see if he “really” was who he claimed to be. “He really treated me with respect,” reports Mr. Paradis-Garneau. After three days, he was able to continue on his way, he says.

The traveler landed in Farah province on January 9 while hitchhiking. The officers at a checkpoint would have first tried to find him a place in a car so that he could continue his journey, says Mr. Paradis-Garneau. Without success. “They called their boss who had never met me,” he says. He then told the guys to take me as a guest to their building. To make sure he was really in Afghanistan as a tourist, the employees brought in people from other villages who spoke English, he said.

Three days later, Mr. Paradis-Garneau had the green light to leave, he maintains. He headed south to Kandahar, where he found the story of his interception making headlines in Canada on January 14. News that surprised his mother, he says. “She was like, ‘Come on, I talked to her this morning!’ he relates. I told her that what she had seen at Global News dated four or five days ago. »

This incident did not stop Mr. Paradis-Garneau: he continued his journey for a month and a half in Afghanistan. He notably visited the provinces of Nimroz and Helmand, in the South West. “I visited nomads and tasted camel milk,” he recalls.

“hospitable” people

It was not his first trip of its kind, says François-Xavier Paradis-Garneau. In 2019, he traveled from Egypt to Rwanda, via Sudan, where the situation was then unstable.

When Mr. Paradis-Garneau thinks of the Afghan population, he says he has never seen people “so hospitable”. Afghans met on board the buses each time offered to host him at their home, he says.

If he says he went to Afghanistan to make a “journey of discovery” and not to talk about politics, the traveler admits that it is “a complicated period” for the country.

Since the Taliban took over, restrictions on education and work have been imposed on women and girls. Dissidents were arrested and demonstrations were forcibly suppressed.

Contacted by The Press Regarding the interception of Mr. Paradis-Garneau, Global Affairs Canada says it cannot “provide information on the situation” for reasons of confidentiality and security. The Afghan Embassy in Ottawa did not respond to our interview requests.

Global Affairs Canada advises against all travel to Afghanistan, as the security situation remains “extremely unstable and unpredictable”. The Canadian Embassy has suspended its activities in the country, which limits access to consular services, according to the Ministry’s website.