AFGHANISTAN/Afghan women protested against the continued Taliban ban on girls’ education. There chants were “Education is our right“, “Right, justice, freedom” and “Either all or none“.
When the protestors arrived at the “school station” in the west of Kabul, they faced the obstruction of the Taliban troops who disrupted the women’s demonstration with “violence” and “insults”. They arrested three women in these protests.
According to the information provided by certain sources, Malala Hashemi, Roqia SaeI, and Fatemeh Mohammadi are the women who were arrested. We have no further information about their fate until now.
Female protesters say that the Taliban transferred these women to the 13th security district of Kabul City after their arrest, and they still do not have more information about them.
Continuation of Oppressing Women
The three women who were arrested by the Taliban group; were the first group of female protesters who were imprisoned in 2023.
Afghan protesting women say that the arrest of these three women is a sign of the continuation of the Taliban group’s policy of oppression against women.
One of the protesting women, told a news reporter that “Taliban are afraid of women’s street protests, and that is why they suppress these protests with absolute violence.”
The journalist added that they had started their demonstration by observing the full hijab and in a completely peaceful manner.
Another female protester also says that Afghan women have been deprived of all their rights under the rule of the Taliban group for more than a year and a half.
She says that “Our girls are in a bad mental state and live in their homes like a prisoner.”
According to what she says, they will not be “stopped” by oppression and violence. If such a policy could have stopped them, their protests would not have continued for the past year and a half.
Request for the immediate release of the detainees
By publishing leaflets, demonstrators say that they are worried about the fate of the 3 women that are now in the custody of the Taliban group and want them to be released immediately.
Richard Bennett, the special rapporteur for human rights of the United Nations in Afghanistan, also called for the immediate release of the women who have been arrested by Taliban.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for Afghanistan has called for the “immediate” and “unconditional” release of the 3 women.
Human rights organizations call the policy of the Taliban group towards women “sexual apartheid” and demand its recognition by the international community.
These institutions say that the international community should practically stand by the women of Afghanistan and not limit themselves to issuing declarations in response to the Taliban’s misogynistic policies.