Taliban continued their arbitrary arrests of women activists, former military personnel, journalists, and social media activists over the past week. Three protesting girls, who are sisters, and their brother were detained in Kabul. Meanwhile, members of this group forcibly took an underage girl from her home in Pasaband district, Ghor province, and married her off to a Taliban member. Simultaneously, several former military personnel were arbitrarily detained in Kabul and Panjshir provinces and transferred to undisclosed locations. In addition to widespread human rights violations, the Taliban publicly flogged several individuals over the past week. However, the Taliban’s extensive human rights violations have prompted domestic reactions and international human rights organizations’ responses. These organizations have called for the recognition of gender apartheid in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) has also joined the campaign to recognize gender apartheid in Afghanistan.
In less than three years, despite widespread internal and external pressures to cease harassment and abuse of women and girls, the Taliban have continued their arbitrary arrests of women’s rights activists, former military personnel, and their critics. In addition to the arbitrary detention of women protesters, this group has imprisoned and tortured many former military personnel, and some have been publicly executed.
A week ago, an audio tape attributed to Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the absent supreme leader of the Taliban, was aired by the group’s controlled Afghanistan national television, emphasizing stoning and public flogging. Although this audio tape was later removed from the national television platforms under Taliban control, human rights activists say the nature of the Taliban was reflected in the remarks attributed to the group’s supreme leader.
Taliban, continuing their arbitrary arrests, captured three sisters and their brother from the Dasht-e Barchi area of Kabul last week. Sources have named these girls Azada, Nadia, and Elaha, and their brother Yahya Rezaie. According to sources, Nadia and Elaha are underage, and their family has been put in a very difficult situation during the arbitrary detention and prevented from speaking to the media.
After the Taliban detained three protesting girls and their brother in Kabul, the organization “Freedom Now” condemned the action, calling for an end to Taliban attacks on civil activists. They also highlighted the case of Manizha Siddiqi, a female protester held in Pul-e Charkhi prison, whose health is deteriorating.
Despite the Taliban’s emphasis on “women’s rights within the framework of Islamic Sharia Law,” members of the group forcibly abducted a teenage girl from Nowrak village, Pasaband district, Ghor province, last week. Video footage circulating on social media depicts Taliban fighters beating the girl’s family members.
In the video, unidentified men forcibly take the girl with them, and a man with a stick hits a woman in the crowd and the woman screams. In the video, a woman’s voice can still be heard saying, “Curse be upon the Taliban who takes away people’s women.”
Sources report that Khairullah Khairkhah, the Taliban district governor for Pasaband, along with Abdul Hamid Khalid, the security commander, Mohammad Mushfiq, the intelligence deputy, and Tawhidi, the Taliban intelligence officer, raided the girl’s house in Pasaband district. According to sources, the girl was engaged, and the Taliban abducted her without fulfilling the dowry payment.
Sources further state that this girl, aged 17, was compelled into marriage with a local Taliban fighter named “Shahwali.” The sources indicate that the disagreement between the two families revolved around the bride’s dowry, prompting Taliban intervention upon the request of local influential figures.
Sources verify that this girl had been abducted previously but subsequently returned to her father’s house. According to the sources, Shahwali maintained close ties with Taliban officials. He, along with local Taliban authorities, raided the girl’s house, assaulting her “mother, sisters, and other family members,” and forcibly taking the girl “against her and her family’s will.”
Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Taliban regime, confirmed the incident, stating that Taliban military officials had taken this action without informing the Taliban’s judicial bodies. Mujahid claimed that these Taliban individuals have been referred to the Taliban’s military court and are currently under interrogation.
Civil and human rights activists express concern over the Taliban’s abduction of this girl, as the group publicly flogged three individuals in the province yesterday on charges of theft. Local Taliban officials have announced that each accused received 39 lashes. A day earlier, seven individuals were also publicly flogged in the provinces of Kandahar and Kabul.
Taliban has emphasized that they will not hesitate in executing their rulings and will not tolerate any interference from “east or west.” This comes after widespread reactions, prompting them to remove their supreme leader’s message from their state media.
In addition to widespread violations of women’s rights and their exclusion from all spheres of public life, the Taliban have continued arbitrary detentions and retaliations against former military personnel. In less than three years, besides media reports, several reports from international human rights organizations have been published indicating that the Taliban continuously detain former security forces and have killed them in some cases.
Last week, the Taliban arrested three former government soldiers from Panjshir province, specifically from the Pishghor and Khinj districts, and moved them to Kapisa province. The detainees are identified as Sayed Jafar, Naim, and Samim. Additionally, the Taliban have incarcerated Mohammad Naser Nawabi, a retired deputy director of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) under the previous government and a resident of Bazarak district, Panjshir province, in Kabul.
Besides arbitrarily detaining former military personnel, the Taliban have also executed several former security forces in recent days. Last week, the Taliban executed Safiullah, a member of the former government’s Special Forces, in the Doghabad area of Parwan province, near the province’s center.
Taliban members have continuously executed suspects without observing their human rights. Taliban announced last week that they publicly executed two individuals on charges of kidnapping, but local sources claim that the Taliban killed these two individuals without any “crime.”
However, for over two years, women and girls have been advocating for the recognition of gender apartheid in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. Recently, the Afghanistan Transitional Justice Coordination Group (ATJCG) has urged members of the UN’s Sixth Committee to recognize gender apartheid as a crime against humanity.
The Transitional Justice Coordination Group stated in an open letter on Friday, March 29, that recognizing gender apartheid as a crime against humanity would be a fundamental step towards addressing severe human rights violations. The group stated, “The systematic separation and discrimination against Afghan women and girls by a misogynistic regime [Taliban], aimed at regime preservation, has reached an alarming level and severely impacted women’s rights to education, employment, freedom of movement, freedom of expression, access to justice, and healthcare.”
Furthermore, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), a body composed of human rights defenders from around the world, has joined the campaign to recognize “gender apartheid” by adopting a resolution. The organization announced last week that the time has come to broaden the definition of “apartheid.” The resolution mentioned the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan as an example of gender apartheid. The human rights body added that the definition of “apartheid” should also include oppression and injustice in situations where it is applied against a particular gender group.
It is worth noting that the Taliban have detained at least five journalists and media activists in the past few days, and some of them have been released after interrogation, but one journalist in Kunduz province remains in their custody.
