Nadima Noor, a women's rights activist and NGO founder, detained without charge since Feb. 13

A Canadian activist and aid worker was arrested at gunpoint in Afghanistan nearly a month ago and has been held without charge ever since, her brother says.

Nadima Noor, a social media activist and founder of the non-governmental organization Dream Voice Act, was arrested alongside six of her colleagues at their Kabul office on Feb. 13, says Dastaan Noor, who lives in Ottawa.

"About a dozen men with guns showed up at her office and they forcefully detained them and put them in the car and took them to the Ministry of Interior," he told As It Happens guest host Gillian Findlay.

It's not clear what — if any — charges Nadima is facing, and her brother says the Taliban government won't give him any information about why she was arrested or when she will be released. Crackdown on women and activists

Since the Taliban took over the Afghanistan government last fall, there has been a crackdown on foreigners, women and activists in the country. In January, AFP reported that the Taliban conducted a series of raids targeting women activists.

"The Taliban have banned women and girls from secondary and higher education, and altered curricula to focus more on religious studies. They dictate what women must wear, how they should travel, workplace segregation by sex, and even what kind of cell phones women should have. They enforce these rules through intimidation and inspections," reads a Human Rights Watch report published in January.

Dastaan says his sister is known in Afghanistan for speaking out on women's rights, but that she's always played by the rules while working in the country — even securing Taliban approval before conducting media interviews.

"I am not sure if she was breaking any rules there," he said. "Her NGO was legal. It was registered. She was in direct contact with the Ministry of Interior for her work and, as I said, they were well aware of her projects."

The Taliban has not commented on the record about Nadmia's arrest, and an email from As It Happens to Afghanistan's interior ministry bounced back.

However, an unnamed Afghanistan government official who has knowledge of the situation told the Washington Post: "These arrests are a lesson to all the foreigners in Afghanistan who are not obeying the rules." No more running

The Noor siblings are originally from Afghanistan, but fled with their family during the Soviet–Afghan War. After several years moving between different countries and living in refugee camps, they settled in Canada in 1999.

Nadima later returned to her home country to do humanitarian work, her brother said. When the Taliban took over Kabul in August 2021, thousands of Afghans left the country. But Nadima, tired of fleeing, decided to stay put.

"It became kind of a question of, 'Who am I? [and] belonging, and I believe Nadima took that very close to her and she said, 'I'm staying here this time. I'm not running,'" Dastaan said.

Dastaan says he hasn't been able to speak directly to his sister since her arrest, but has been in touch with her NGO colleagues, some of whom have since been released. He's also been able to deliver messages to her via friends in Kabul.

"Her spirit is up," he said. "She's been treated pretty fairly at the moment."

Still, he's worried. He says he tried to work behind the scenes to secure her release, reaching out directly to officials in the Interior ministry. At first, he says they reassured him she would be released soon. But then they changed their tune, and told him the government is "expanding" its investigation into his sister's activities.

That's why he's now going public with her story.

"It does worry me that it might become a political situation and it might prolong and her detention might be extended," he said.

"At the same time, I'm hopeful to see that she has a lot of friends, a lot of support and her voice is getting out there."

Noor’s family in Canada, who spoke to eyewitnesses, said a group of Taliban fighters entered her office, forced her into a car, and whisked her away in broad daylight.

For weeks, Noor’s family had no idea where she was or why she was taken. Then on March 9, she was released from Taliban detention. No charges were brought against her.

“She was forcefully picked up without any proof of wrongdoing and without any reason,” her brother Dastaan Noor told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi.

“Nadima was detained for 24 days without any legal representation,” he added. “After an investigation was conducted, she was found innocent of any wrongdoing.”

The Taliban did not respond to an email from Radio Azadi seeking comment. Noor, 38, is the latest victim of an enforced disappearance in Afghanistan, where critics say the practice has been used by the Taliban to stifle dissent.

Since the Taliban’s return to power in August, dozens of rights activists, journalists, and academics have been arbitrarily detained or have disappeared. Some have been released. The whereabouts of others remain unclear.

“She was very emotional and very upset about why she was held without any reason,” said Dastaan Noor. “It’s unfortunate that the citizens of Afghanistan -- be it women or men -- are still picked up without any reason, detained, and then released."

‘I Will Be Buried Here’

When the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, hundreds of aid workers, activists, and artists fled the country, fearing for their lives and their work.

But Noor, who is also a comedian and rights activist, refused to leave.

“I was born here. I will be buried here," she told Al-Jazeera in late August. “I will tell you why: This pattern of running away has to be broken.” Before the Taliban takeover, Noor made regular guest appearances on Afghan television channels. That stopped after the militants' return to power. But she continued her social media presence, uploading satirical videos for her thousands of followers.

Some of the clips were critical of Afghanistan’s new hard-line rulers, who have rolled back women’s rights, committed human rights abuses, and sidelined many of the country’s ethnic and religious groups.

Last month, Noor made a video in which she admonished the heavily armed young Taliban fighters patrolling the streets of the Afghan capital.

“While going around in the backs of your Ranger [pickup trucks], you should not point your guns at nearby pedestrians,” she said. “Also, do not rest your chin on your guns. You might fire it [unintentionally] and kill someone or harm yourself.”

Just a few days later, on February 13, Noor was detained by the Taliban along with six of her colleagues, according to her family. All worked for Dream Voice Act, a Kabul-based nongovernmental organization headed by Noor that focuses on mental health.

Dastaan Noor said five of those detained, all locals, were released after several days. But he said Noor and a foreign citizen who worked with her were kept in detention. The fate of the foreign national remains unclear.

“They have no specific answers as to why they were holding her,” said Dastaan Noor, revealing that he had contacted Taliban officials after the family learned of Noor’s detention.

He said her sister had obtained a letter from Taliban officials that guaranteed her freedom of movement inside the country.

“We were very confused about why this happened so suddenly even though they were aware of her daily activities,” he said.

‘Very Alarming’

Rights groups say extrajudicial and arbitrary detentions and killings have increased in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power.

In recent weeks, several dozen women activists who have staged protests have vanished while the Taliban has denied any role in their disappearance amid heightened fears about their safety.

Several of the women have reportedly been released but their whereabouts remain unknown.

On February 21, the Taliban Interior Ministry released a video of several female activists who said they had been encouraged by foreign-based activists to take to the streets by offering them the chance to relocate or send their children to study abroad.

The video led to anger and accusations that the Taliban extracted the so-called confessions under duress.

Human rights campaigners say that arbitrary arrests and disappearances are part of the Taliban’s escalating effort to crush dissent.

"It just demonstrates how little rule of law there is in Afghanistan these days," Heather Barr, an associate women’s rights director at Human Rights Watch, told RFE/RL. “You just disappear and reappear or not reappear, which is very alarming and very frightening, and it feels like the Taliban are using it intentionally in some cases such as the women’s rights protesters.” The Taliban has refused to comment on cases of enforced disappearances. Still, an unnamed Taliban intelligence official told the Washington Post that some foreigners have been arrested on suspicion of spying, human trafficking, or lacking proper documents.

“These arrests are a lesson to all the foreigners in Afghanistan who are not obeying the rules,” the official said.

Most of the Taliban’s targets have been locals.

Sayed Baqir Mohseni, a university professor and political commentator, disappeared on March 4 just days after accusing the Taliban of stifling free speech during a guest appearance on an Afghan TV channel.

"I was kept in an intelligence office at an unknown location for three days, but I was treated well,” he told Radio Azadi after his release on March 6.

Another university lecturer, Faizullah Jalal, who criticized the Taliban in a TV debate was detained in January. The Taliban released him days later after coming under international pressure.

Jalal and others who have been arbitrarily held by the Taliban have stayed silent since their release.