The United Nations has asked the Taliban to release Zarifa Yaqubi and her colleagues two weeks after their detention.
The United Nations Human Rights Office said on Friday (November 18th) that all Afghans have the right to freedom of association, expression and belief.
“Silencing women and constraining their work does not affect them alone, it impacts all of society,” the rights group tweeted.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) had also said that the Taliban should clarify the reasons for their continued detention and all detainees should be allowed contact with their families and legal counsel.
The Taliban had previously justified that these protestors have been receiving orders from outside and that is why they were arrested.
The Taliban arrested Zarifa Yaqubi, a well-known women’s rights activist, and her colleagues on Thursday last week during a press conference in Dasht-e Barchi, Kabul. They wanted to announce the establishment of the “Afghanistan Women’s Movement for Equality”.