- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Mar 28, 2024
- Event Description
The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) strongly condemns the arrests of three Hazara women human rights defenders (WHRDs) in Afghanistan. The arrests happened amidst the Taliban’s ongoing gender apartheid and persecution of ethnic and religious minorities.
On 28 March 2024, the Taliban arrested and detained WHRDs Azada Rezaei, Nadia Rezaei, and Elaha Rezaei alongside their brother, Yahya Rezaei. Two of the sisters are minors. In 2022, their sister Tamana was also detained for 29 days.
The Rezaeis’ whereabouts are currently unknown. Taliban representatives have denied involvement, while the Kabul police have failed to provide any information.
FORUM-ASIA calls for the immediate release of the Rezaei siblings. We also call for the safe return of WHRD Manizha Sediqqi, whose health conditions have been deteriorating under detention.
The Taliban’s persecution of human rights defenders
The Rezaei sisters are members of the Afghan Women’s Justice Movement, a women-led initiative that fearlessly challenges the Taliban’s discriminatory policies. The Rezaeis belong to the Shia Hazara community, a persecuted ethnic and religious minority in Afghanistan that has endured a ‘slow genocide’ under the Taliban.
Under Taliban custody, human rights defenders experience torture and ill-treatment, impacting not only their physical health but also their mental well-being. The threats and harassment also extend to their families, including intimidation, house searches, revenge killing, and enforced marriages.
WHRDs are at the forefront of resisting the Taliban’s oppressive regime.
Since the Taliban’s illegitimate takeover in 2021, several protest movements have been courageously and peacefully led by WHRDs despite the country’s shrinking civic space. However, in the absence of accountability, human rights defenders–within Afghanistan and those in exile–face numerous obstacles as they advocate for the protection and promotion of people’s fundamental rights and freedoms.
Call to Action
FORUM-ASIA calls for the immediate release of the Rezaie siblings alongside all other defenders who have been unjustly detained for their legitimate human rights work.
‘FORUM-ASIA urges the international community to hold the Taliban accountable for all its atrocious crimes, demanding them to fully respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of the people of Afghanistan as protected under the country’s international human rights commitments. The international community must help in providing hassle-free humanitarian visas and in establishing safe resettlement schemes for human rights defenders from Afghanistan. Members of vulnerable ethnic and religious groups–such as the Hazaras–should be prioritised in these resettlement processes,’ said Mary Aileen Diez-Bacalso, Executive Director of FORUM-ASIA.
We are also calling for greater support for Afghanistan’s civil society organisations and activists, including those in exile, to enable them to resume their invaluable advocacy work. Lastly, we demand the establishment of an international investigative accountability mechanism, which is capable of collecting, preserving, and analysing evidence related to all human rights violations in Afghanistan.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 10, 2024
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Feb 29, 2024
- Event Description
Mohammad Atef Daie, a university professor, has reportedly been sentenced to one year in prison by the Taliban’s military court in Kabul, according to local sources.
Sources confirmed to the Hasht-e Subh Daily on Thursday, February 29th, that the Taliban handed down a “disciplinary imprisonment” to this university professor during this significant month of the year.
The Taliban’s military court imposed a one-year prison term on the professor for allegedly covering the electricity bill of the residence belonging to Zahir Aghbar, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Tajikistan, and for accommodating Mohammad Aatef’s family in Aghbar’s house.
However, other sources suggest that the professor’s imprisonment stems from his activism on social media, where he advocated for girls’ education rights and criticized the Taliban’s actions, particularly regarding women’s rights.
According to these sources, Aatef has been denied legal representation by the Taliban, and his family is permitted only brief “window visits” lasting ten minutes every two weeks at Pol-e-Charkhi prison.
It is noteworthy that the Taliban demanded Mohammad Atef Daie on November 19, 2023, alleging his association with the “02 Intelligence Directorate” of the group before arresting him.
Mohammad Atef Daie previously taught at private universities in Kabul but was recently appointed as an advisor to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of the Taliban, recommended by the Union of Traders and Investors of the country.
He hails from the Piyawesht district in the Rokha district of Panjshir province.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Academic, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 13, 2024
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jan 9, 2024
- Event Description
Local sources have reported that the Taliban detained Jawid Noorzad Kakar, the deputy of student affairs at the Roshan Afghanistan Online University (RAOU) in Kabul.
Sources confirmed to the Hasht-e Subh Daily on Sunday, January 14, that Taliban intelligence forces apprehended him in Kabul five days ago and transferred him to an undisclosed location.
According to sources, the Taliban detained Kakar due to his involvement with the “Roshan Afghanistan Online University (RAOU).”
Established on December 20, 2022, in response to the Taliban’s ban on girls’ education, “Roshan Afghanistan Online University (RAOU)” has since provided online education to several girls.
Efforts by Kakar’s colleagues and family to determine his fate have, so far, yielded no results.
The Taliban have not issued any statement on this matter.
It’s worth noting that, in addition to continuing their restrictions on women and girls, including closing the doors of education to girls above the sixth grade, the Taliban closed university gates to women and girls on December 20 of last year.
The Taliban’s persistent prohibition on women and girls’ education, study, and work has consistently generated widespread domestic and international reactions. However, the group has not yet responded positively to these reactions and demands.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 12, 2024
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jan 3, 2024
- Event Description
In a recent development in the Ghor province, the Taliban have reportedly detained the chief of a private radio station, Abdul Salam Samim, for broadcasting messages from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
According to reliable local sources speaking to the Hasht-e Subh Daily on Friday, January 5th, Samim, the head of Radio Seda-ye Adalat (Voice of Justice Radio), spent a night in Taliban custody two days ago.
The reason behind his arrest, as confirmed by one source, was the dissemination of UNAMA messages through the radio station’s Facebook page.
The UNAMA messages, initially shared with local Ghor media for publication but later removed, underscored the significance of an educated population for a country’s prosperity. It emphasized education as a vital investment in a nation’s development, advocating for a fair and inclusive education system where both boys and girls can learn.
Interestingly, several other media outlets in Ghor also published and subsequently deleted these messages.
As of now, the Taliban in Ghor have not provided any comments on this incident.
The UNAMA, when contacted regarding the matter, has not issued any statements or indicated a potential request for the dissemination of these messages through Ghor media.
However, during a conversation with Hasht-e Subh Daily, a UNAMA employee mentioned that the organization has not been involved in specific projects, especially those related to disseminating awareness messages to local media, over the past two years.
This development is noteworthy given the broader context of the Taliban’s stringent restrictions on media outlets and journalists across the country since their takeover.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 12, 2024
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Dec 31, 2023
- Event Description
A Source within the Unity and Solidarity Women’s Movement in Kunduz Province has revealed the distressing news of a recent suicide within their ranks.
Speaking on the evening of Friday, January 5th, the source informed Hasht-e Subh Daily that the deceased member, identified as Bibi Gul Mohammadi, was laid to rest last Sunday.
Bibi Gul, a participant in a street protest, was detained by the Taliban in Kunduz in late September 2021. During her harrowing two-day captivity, she endured torture, as disclosed by the source.
Upon her release, Bibi Gul faced escalating pressure and restrictions from her family, which included being prohibited from communicating with her friends, according to the source.
The 21-year-old aspiring university student found herself on the brink of taking her entrance exams when the Taliban assumed control of Afghanistan, thwarting her educational aspirations.
Simultaneously, there are reports highlighting the dire economic situation of Bibi Gul, which, coupled with family issues and Taliban restrictions, contributed to her tragic decision to end her life.
A member of the Unity and Solidarity Women’s Movement in Kunduz lamented that Bibi Gul’s case is not isolated, emphasizing that the Taliban has systematically imprisoned and tortured numerous girls, leaving them to grapple with severe psychological issues.
Despite efforts, Hasht-e Subh Daily was unsuccessful in establishing contact with the family of the deceased protester.
It is crucial to note that the confluence of poverty, domestic violence, and the myriad restrictions imposed by the Taliban on women and girls has left them vulnerable to psychological harm, leading to instances of suicide. As of now, the Taliban has refrained from commenting on this tragic incident.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Death
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 8, 2024
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Dec 4, 2023
- Event Description
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for the release of two journalists who were arrested within a week of each other in Afghanistan – one while out reporting and the other after being tried and sentenced behind closed doors. The Taliban authorities must stop hounding independent media, RSF says.
“Press freedom has collapsed since the Taliban retook power in 2021, with journalists being subjected to arbitrary arrest and a crackdown on independent media. We call on the Taliban authorities to release Radio Nasim director Sultan Ali Javadi and Tamadon TV reporter Abdul Rahim Mohammadi immediately and to end their intimidation campaign against media professionals in Afghanistan.
South Asia Desk RSF Neither the GDI nor the local authorities have provided any information about the reason for Mohammadi’s arrest while working in the southern province of Kandahar on 4 December. According to RSF’s information, he was arrested at a Taliban checkpoint for failing to present an identity document and was then placed in detention. Tamadon TV is an independent media outlet that mainly targets Afghanistan’s Shia minority.
Javadi, whose now-closed news and entertainment radio station was based in Nili, the capital of the central province of Daykundi, was sentenced to a year in prison on charges of “propaganda against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” and “spying for foreign and infidel countries” at the end of a trial before a local court that was held behind closed doors and without a lawyer present. He was detained the next day.
Radio silence
Radio Nasim had been persecuted for three months, ever since 27 September, when the Daikundi GDI briefly arrested Javadi and two of his colleagues, Saifullah Rezaei and Mojtaba Qasemi, seized their equipment, and sealed the entrance to the radio station, which has not broadcast since then.
According to RSF’s sources, they were accused of broadcasting content from Radio Azadi, the Afghan branch of the US broadcaster Radio Free Europe (RFE)/Radio Liberty(RL), which was banned from broadcasting in Afghanistan in December 2022.
The three journalists were arrested again at their homes on 7 October for allegedly cooperating with foreign media critical of the Taliban. Rezaei and Qasemi were released after 11 days, while Javadi was not released until 24 October.
Reign of fear
The current crackdown on the media was preceded by the arrests of nine journalists in five provinces in the space of a week in the first half of August. Of the five privately-owned media outlets operating in Daykundi province before the Taliban takeover, three were ransacked after the previous government fell, and the GDI seized the equipment of the others. Radio Nasim’s closure leaves Seday-e-Qarya as the only radio station still operating.
On 19 December, TOLO news journalist Ruhollah Sangar was released after being held by the GDI for two days in Parwan province, north of Kabul. He was arrested on 17 December by members of the Taliban's General Directorate of Intelligence while working in the town of Charikar, the capital of Parwan province. The local authorities and the Parwan GDI gave no official reason for his arrest.
Afghanistan is ranked 152nd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2023 World Press Freedom Index. Three journalists have been killed in Afghanistan since the start of the year and two are currently detained.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 30, 2024
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Oct 15, 2023
- Event Description
Local sources report that the Taliban have transferred Ahmad Fahim Azimi and Sadiqullah Afghan, two activists involved in girls’ education and members of the Afghan Robotics Girls’ Team, to Pul-e-Charkhi Prison after 72 days in the custody of the intelligence unit of the group’s 40th Division.
Sources on Wednesday, December 27, confirmed to the Hasht-e Subh Daily that the Taliban recently transferred these two individuals to Pul-e-Charkhi Prison without holding a trial.
According to sources, the Taliban have denied these two education activists the right to have a lawyer during this period.
Nevertheless, the families of Ahmad Fahim and Sadiqullah are demanding the immediate release of these two education activists from Taliban custody.
The Taliban detained Fahim Azimi, an advocate for girls’ education, and his colleague on October 15 of this year from their office in Kart-e-Char, in the third district of Kabul.
Previously, Roya Mahboob, the leader of the Afghan Robotics Girls’ Team, had stated that the Taliban had detained Azimi and several colleagues from the “DCF” section of the team on charges of “assisting the evacuation of girls from the robotics team” and “organizing protests.”
It is worth noting that since their resurgence to power, the Taliban have detained and imprisoned several human rights activists and education advocates in the country, in addition to the former government military officials.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Women's rights
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 29, 2024
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Dec 8, 2023
- Event Description
In response to persistent complaints of disruptions in the relief efforts of international organizations by the Taliban, the intelligence wing of the group has recently confiscated the mobile phones of surveyors from a contractor institution associated with the World Food Programme in Ghazni.
Sources in Ghazni reported to Hasht-e Subh Daily on Friday, December 8, that the Taliban seized and detained the mobile phones of at least 25 employees of the “HEAlTHO” institution, a contractor working with the World Food Programme in the Rashidan district.
According to sources, the Taliban have not disclosed the reasons for confiscating and detaining the mobile phones of these individuals, which also include their personal property.
Despite multiple visits by the employees of this institution to the district and the intelligence office in the area, they have not received a clear and affirmative response.
One source mentioned that with the confiscation of the phones of these employees, the process of assessing the needs of the residents in this district has come to a halt.
As of now, the Taliban in Ghazni have not provided any statements regarding this matter.
This incident is not the first report of disruptions in the humanitarian aid process by international institutions. Previously, the Taliban detained 18 employees of an international aid organization in Ghor, and recently, reports emerged regarding the cessation of operations of the German institution “GIZ” due to the detention of four of its employees by the Taliban.
- Impact of Event
- 25
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 3, 2024
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Nov 15, 2023
- Event Description
Reliable sources have reported the detention of Pari Azada, a member of the “Afghan Women’s Movement for Justice and Freedom,” by the Taliban in Kabul.
Sources, in a conversation with Hasht-e Subh Daily, have confirmed that the Taliban apprehended this female protester around 9:00 AM on Wednesday, November 15th, near the “Sar-e Kariz” area of Kabul and subsequently transferred her to an undisclosed location.
According to these sources, Pari Azada was taken into custody by the Taliban while she was having their protesting slogans printed at a local print shop.
As of now, the Taliban have not issued any comments on this incident.
This marks the fourth instance of a female protester being detained by the Taliban in Kabul in recent times.
Munizha Sediqi, Julia Parsi with her son, and Neda Parwani with her four-year-old child have been in Taliban custody for approximately two months, and their fate remains unknown.
Since their resurgence in Afghanistan, the Taliban have imposed severe restrictions on freedoms and women’s rights. In various instances, they have detained, tortured, and imprisoned women activists.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest, Women's rights
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 14, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Nov 25, 2023
- Event Description
The family of Nabila Rahimi, a human rights activist, athlete, and health educator affiliated with a program of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), reports that she has been detained by the Taliban in Takhar and is currently held in their custody.
Nabila Rahimi’s family members informed Hasht-e Subh Daily on Saturday, November 25, that she was arrested by the Taliban in Taliqan City, Takhar, for not ceasing her activities in providing psychological counseling to the public following the Taliban’s prohibition on women working. She is detained near Taliqan city’s Sarak-e Char area.
She was apprehended earlier this year by the Taliban and has been held in the Taliban’s women’s prison in Takhar since then.
According to Nabila’s family members, she was mistreated during her arrest by the Taliban.
They emphasize that repeated efforts and assurances made by them, local elders, and authorities to secure her release from the Taliban’s grasp have been fruitless.
The family claims that the Taliban have indicated releasing Nabila Rahimi to her family soon but have warned that, upon her release, she will be under house arrest for two months and will be monitored.
However, the Taliban have not provided a specific timeline for her release to her family as of yet.
One of the family members states, “All I wanted was the release of Nabila.”
Our source adds that she was only assisting the people and providing psychological counseling to former government employees, including female counselors.
The source did not grant permission to disclose the name of the institution where Nabila Rahimi worked, based on certain considerations.
The Taliban have not commented on the matter so far.
This incident occurred at a time when the Taliban had previously instructed their security entities to curb the activities of some health institutions in various northeastern provinces.
This local contractor has been detained and imprisoned by the Taliban at a time when the group has imposed significant restrictions on Afghan women, with the prohibition of women working being one of them.
Although the Taliban had previously claimed that female employees in the health sector would not be subject to these restrictions, it is evident that the group is not adhering to its commitments and promises.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Women's rights
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 14, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Oct 30, 2023
- Event Description
Local sources in Mazar-i-Sharif city have reported the tragic suicide of a young woman named Homa, who took her own life after being released from a Taliban prison. The incident occurred on Saturday, November 4th.
Homa, a passionate protester against Taliban restrictions, was apprehended by the Taliban intelligence agency during a checkpoint inspection in the city’s seventh district of Mazar-i-Sharif on Sunday, October 30th. She remained in their custody for three days.
Although it has been alleged that Homa was a member of the women’s protest network opposing the Taliban’s restrictions on women, the women’s protest network in Balkh has not confirmed or denied her membership to Hasht-e Subh Daily.
Sources have revealed that Homa was 26 years old and had graduated in the field of education from Balkh University.
Reports indicate that Homa endured torture at the hands of the Taliban intelligence agency, with visible evidence of this brutality on her body. After her release from Taliban captivity, she tragically hanged herself from the ceiling of her room, putting an end to her life.
Homa’s body was laid to rest on the same day as her death, Saturday, November 4th.
As of now, the Taliban group in Balkh has not commented on this tragic event.
Throughout their more than two years of control in Afghanistan, the Taliban have consistently suppressed, arrested, and tortured female protesters. There have been documented instances of sexual assaults on women in their prisons as well.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Death, Torture, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to life
- HRD
- WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 24, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Oct 15, 2023
- Event Description
Local sources have confirmed the tragic death of a young social activist who succumbed to torture while in a Taliban prison. The sources, speaking to Hasht-e Subh on Tuesday, October 17th, verified that the victim was Matiullah Fathzada, who passed away due to his injuries two days prior while in Taliban custody.
According to these sources, Matiullah had been arrested by the Taliban approximately a year and a half ago for sharing pictures of the National Resistance Front forces on his Facebook profile. He was a well-known figure in the Omarz district of Panjshir province and resided in the Khairkhana area of Kabul city. Importantly, he had no affiliations with any particular group, emphasizing his status as an independent activist.
As of now, Taliban officials have not released any comments regarding this incident.
It is noteworthy that since their resurgence to power, the Taliban have detained, imprisoned, and in some cases, executed hundreds of residents from northern provinces, particularly Panjshir province. These actions stem from accusations of collaboration with the National Resistance Front. In a recent incident, the group opened fire on a young man named Abdulaziz, a prominent figure from Panjshir, on Saturday, October 14th, following a verbal altercation in the Qala-e Fathullah area of Kabul city.
This heartbreaking event sheds light on the dire situation faced by activists and individuals critical of the Taliban regime in Kabul. The incident underscores the urgent need for international attention and intervention to protect human rights in Afghanistan during these challenging times.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death, Torture
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Youth
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 24, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Oct 7, 2023
- Event Description
Reliable sources have confirmed that the Taliban arrested and detained Manija Sadeqi, a member of the “Spontaneous Women’s Movement of Afghanistan,” 15 days ago.
Laila Basim, another member of the Spontaneous Women’s Movement of Afghanistan, confirmed on Monday, October 23, in an interview with Hasht-e Subh Daily, that the Taliban apprehended Manija Sadeqi on October 7, 15 days ago, in the Kart-e-Naw area of Kabul city.
According to Basim, despite the 15-day efforts by Sadeghi’s family to secure her release, they have been unsuccessful.
Basim states that the reason for detaining female protesters is their resistance against the Taliban’s misogynistic actions.
It is essential to note that the Taliban also detained Neda Parwani along with her child and husband on September 19 and Julia Parsi on October 26 this year from Kabul city. These two women are also members of the Spontaneous Women’s Movement of Afghanistan.
The arrest of Parwani and Parsi has sparked various reactions.
Despite repeated calls from human rights organizations for the release of the detained female protesters, the Taliban have remained unresponsive to their actions.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 24, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 19, 2023
- Event Description
Informed sources have reported the detention of Neda Parwani, a member of the “Spontaneous Women’s Movement of Afghanistan,” by the Taliban in Kabul.
At least two reliable sources have confirmed to Hasht-e Subh that the Taliban apprehended Neda Parwani on the morning of Tuesday, September 19, in the Khairkhana area of Kabul and subsequently transferred her to an undisclosed location.
According to sources, the Taliban have also detained the husband and a four-year-old son of this female protester.
As of now, the Taliban has not issued any official statement regarding this incident.
It is important to highlight that since the emergence of women’s protests in the country, the Taliban have detained and subjected several female protesters to torture.
Sources attribute the Taliban’s detention of female protesters to extortion by this group, alleging that the Taliban demand “money” in exchange for the release of female activists from human rights organizations.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Family of HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 2, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 27, 2023
- Event Description
Zholia Parsi, a women’s rights activist, was arrested with her elder son by the Taliban in Qala-e-Fathullah area in Kabul on Wednesday morning, sources confirmed.
According to sources, Parsi was arrested from her home in Kabul and some of their belongings, including mobile phones and a number of documents, were taken away by the Taliban.
This is the second arrest of a women’s rights activist by the Taliban in less than a month.
Taliban has not commented on the matter so far.
More details will be added to this story.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Family of HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 2, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 3, 2023
- Event Description
Local officials in the central Afghan province where the Taliban detained 18 staffers for a long-serving humanitarian NGO earlier this month suggest the group was suspected of spreading Christianity, RFE/RL's Radio Azadi has learned.
Taliban intelligence and other officials in Kabul have remained silent over the detentions.
The International Assistance Mission (IAM) humanitarian group in Afghanistan on September 15 announced the detention of 18 team members from its offices in Ghor Province between September 3 and 13. It said they all appear to have been transferred to the Afghan capital, Kabul.
IAM and other information suggested the detainees comprise 17 Afghan nationals and a female American surgeon.
Early on September 16, IAM said it still "has not been informed of the reasons for the detention of our staff."
But Taliban officials in Ghor have accused them of spreading Christianity, which can be punished under strict interpretations of Islamic law in Afghanistan.
In a written message to Radio Azadi, Abdul Hai Zaim, the head of information and culture for the Taliban-led government for Ghor Province, confirmed the arrest of the IAM employees and claimed -- without providing evidence -- that they had been promoting Christianity.
The fundamentalist Taliban, who retook control of Afghanistan as U.S.-led international forces withdrew in 2021, have imposed a particularly harsh form of Shari'a law on the country when they have been in power at various points in the past four decades.
The internationally unrecognized Taliban-led government in Afghanistan has been accused by UN and other international officials of grave human rights offenses against non-Muslims, women, and minorities.
IAM said on September 16 that it had inquired with the Taliban-led Afghan government's Finance Ministry and was "working together with the UN and ACBAR, the coordinating body for NGOs in Afghanistan," to seek the release of the staff members.
IAM has worked in Afghanistan for nearly six decades, it said.
"IAM has worked in Afghanistan alongside Afghan communities for 57 years and we value and respect local customs and cultures. We stand by the principle that 'aid will not be used to further a particular political or religious standpoint,'" it said, adding, "All IAM staff agree to abide by the laws of Afghanistan."
- Impact of Event
- 17
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 22, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Aug 20, 2023
- Event Description
In a recent and concerning development, Taliban fighters have reportedly detained eight individuals associated with the “Union and Solidarity of Afghan Women” movement following an attack on a gathering of women protesters in Kabul.
Sources reveal that the Taliban apprehended these eight individuals within Kabul city and have taken them into custody. The incident unfolded on Sunday, August 20th, when Taliban fighters executed the arrests from a confined location in the Khairkhana district of Kabul.
An insider source informed Hasht-e Subh that these women have been identified as Hajar, Khatol, Lima, Farida Moheb, Husna, and three others whose names are undisclosed. The source added, “The women had assembled to organize an event, but the location was surrounded, and they found themselves unable to leave.”
According to the source, as darkness descended, Taliban fighters entered the premises and apprehended the detained women. Photographic evidence obtained by Hasht-e Subh also indicates that Taliban fighters initiated an assault on the site where these women had gathered.
Meanwhile, the Union and Solidarity of Afghan Women’s movement verified the incident through an official statement, affirming that these women were detained before they could carry out their planned protest action.
The statement reads, “Members of this movement had planned to hold a protest in a confined area within Khairkhana Square in Kabul due to security concerns. However, before the protest could take place, Taliban forces stormed the site and detained eight of these women.”
It’s important to note that this isn’t the first instance of the Taliban detaining women activists. Since assuming control over Afghanistan, the Taliban have imposed various restrictions on the country’s citizens.
- Impact of Event
- 8
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 5, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Aug 23, 2023
- Event Description
In a concerning development, sources from Kabul have reported that the Taliban, approximately three months after the arrest of the human rights activist Shamsurrahman Rahiq, have now detained his younger brother.
According to informed sources in the city, the Taliban arrested Mohammad Mehrban Morshed on Wednesday, August 23rd, from Kabul’s third security district. The details of his whereabouts remain undisclosed.
Mohammad Mehrban Morshed is a third-year student at Kabul University, as per sources. The Taliban’s grounds for his arrest, however, remain unknown.
As of now, the Taliban has not issued any official statement regarding this matter.
It’s worth mentioning that on May 24, 2023, the Taliban intelligence forces arrested Shamsurrahman Rahiq for the second time in Kabul. Rahiq is a prominent human rights activist and resident of the Dara district of Panjshir province.
Rahiq is also reported to have previously worked as a staff member for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), although the organization has not yet commented on his case.
Based on the published reports, it is noted that about a year ago, the Taliban had forcibly taken Shamsurrahman Rahiq’s father from his home in Panjshir and shot him. His father was a former member of the previous government’s army.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 5, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Aug 10, 2023
- Event Description
On Thursday, August 10, officials from the General Directorate of Intelligence, the Taliban’s intelligence agency, stormed the office of the independent Killid radio station in Jalalabad city, in eastern Nangarhar province, and detained its manager Faqirzai and reporter Saleh, according to the non-profit Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC)and a journalist with knowledge of the situation who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation by the Taliban.
Separately, also on Thursday, Taliban intelligence operatives entered offices of the independent Uranus TV network in Kunduz city in northern Afghanistan and detained Hasib Hassas, a journalist at the independent radio Salam Watandar, according to the AFJC and another journalist who spoke with CPJ anonymously due to fear of Taliban reprisal.
CPJ’s journalist sources said that Faqirzai, Saleh, and Hassas were detained on accusations that they reported for exiled media.
“The detention of journalists Faqir Mohammad Faqirzai, Jan Agha Saleh, and Hasib Hassas just before the second anniversary of the fall of Kabul shows the Taliban is determined to continue their brutal crackdown on the media,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Taliban authorities must immediately and unconditionally release the three journalists and stop muzzling reporting, whether it is conducted for local media or the exiled press.”
The journalist sources said that the three were transferred to an undisclosed location; CPJ was unable to determine their whereabouts.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid did not respond to a CPJ’s request for comment sent via messaging app.
Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, the country’s media have been in crisis, with journalists facing arrests, raids on offices, and beatings. The Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence has emerged as a key threat to journalists in the country. Some journalists who fled the country have established media outlets to continue reporting on Afghanistan in exile.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 25, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jul 30, 2023
- Event Description
Taliban authorities must stop their relentless crackdown on the media in Afghanistan and allow private broadcaster Hamisha Bahar Radio and TV to continue its work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.
On Sunday, July 30, about 20 members of the Taliban provincial police raided the office of Hamisha Bahar Radio and TV in Jalalabad city, in eastern Nangarhar province, after receiving information about a journalism training workshop attended by both male and female journalists from the broadcaster, according to news reports and a journalist familiar with the situation, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal. On Tuesday, armed members of the Taliban provincial police then shuttered the broadcaster’s operations and sealed its office, according to those sources.
“The Taliban must allow the broadcaster Hamisha Bahar Radio and TV to resume operations promptly and ensure its employees, including female journalists, are allowed unfettered access to professional training,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “It is appalling that the Taliban cracked down on a media outlet because of women’s participation at a journalism training session. Denying women of their rights has become the hallmark of the Taliban regime.”
Hamisha Bahar Radio and TV has 35 employees, including nine women, according to the journalist who spoke with CPJ. Under the Taliban, women face severe restrictions on education and employment, which the United Nations says have increased in recent months.
CPJ contacted Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid for comment via messaging app but received no response.
In August 2022, CPJ published a special report about the media crisis in Afghanistan showing a rapid deterioration in press freedom characterized by censorship, arrests, assaults, and restrictions on women journalists since the Taliban retook control of the country in 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 13, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jul 19, 2023
- Event Description
Security forces used water cannons and fired guns into the air to disperse a women’s protest in Kabul on July 19 over the Taliban-led government’s decision to close women’s hair and beauty salons.
Dozens of women took part in the rare public protest in the center of the Afghan capital. They held a poster with the slogan: "Don't take away our bread and water."
Beauty salons are a source of livelihood for women in Afghanistan, where the Taliban-led government has curbed the rights and freedoms of Afghan women and girls in education and most forms of employment.
One female protester told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi that Taliban security officers beat some of the demonstrators with batons and used tear gas to break up the demonstration.
"Yes, they were very violent. They fired shots in the air and sprayed water on us. They beat the girls. They took their mobile phones," one woman told Radio Azadi through WhatsApp. Another demonstrator also described the violence used by security forces against the women.
"They shot around us. They hit us with electric batons. They beat us with rods. We ran from alley to alley,” said the protester. “I am 15 years old, and I want to defend my mother's right, my sister's right, everyone's rights.”
Both women requested anonymity to protect themselves from retribution. Their accounts could not be independently verified.
The office of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) responded on Twitter to reports of the crackdown.
“Reports of the forceful suppression of a peaceful protest by women against the ban on beauty salons -- the latest denial of women’s rights in #Afghanistan -- are deeply concerning. Afghans have the right to express views free from violence. De facto authorities must uphold this,” UNAMA said.
The Taliban government's order to close women's beauty salons was issued last month.The Taliban's Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice issued a letter on June 24 conveying a verbal order from the supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada. On July 4, Mohammad Sidik Akif Mahajar, a spokesman for the ministry, confirmed the contents of the letter, which had been circulating on social media.
The spokesman justified the order, saying the salons charge exorbitant amounts of money for makeup and that some of the procedures performed, such as plucking eyebrows and adding hair extensions, are illegal.
The Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice gave women's salons a month to close their doors.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 27, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jul 15, 2023
- Event Description
Local sources in Zabul report that the Taliban have prohibited the activities of Intersos, a humanitarian aid organization (HAO), due to its refusal to employ individuals designated by the Taliban in the province.
Sources informed Hasht-e Subh that the group sealed off the premises of Intersos, which operates in the healthcare sector, on Saturday, July 15.
The Taliban’s Public Health Directorate in Zabul has not commented on the suspension of Intersos in Qalat, the provincial capital.
However, an anonymous source from the organization stated that after Intersos declined to employ individuals designated by the Taliban, the Taliban authorities locked the premises.
This is the second time that Intersos activities have been halted in Zabul after officials of the organization refused to employ Taliban-designated individuals.
Meanwhile, earlier reports from Daykundi province stated that fifteen aid organizations have ceased operations in the province for several months due to Taliban intervention and extortion.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 17, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jun 18, 2023
- Event Description
On June 18, Shahir was detained by members of the Taliban as he crossed the border from Iran to Afghanistan in the Zabul district when he was detained by Taliban authorities. According to a statement from the Pak-Afghan International Forum of Journalists (PAIF), Shahir was arrested by Taliban intelligence forces while travelling to Kabul and taken to an unknown location, where he was interrogated and tortured him. For two days, Shahir’s family had no knowledge of his whereabouts or fate.
It remains unclear whether Shahir was released from detention or if he escaped. Rahman Mirzad, a fellow journalist and colleague of Shahir, told 8am Media that Shahir had escaped from Taliban captivity on the night of June 19. A Taliban spokesperson in the Zabul province denied the journalist’s detainment.
Shahir, a reporter with Rah-e-Farda TV, left Afghanistan at the start of Taliban control in August 2021, taking refuge in Iran. His reportage is often critical of the Taliban regime and was previously targeted in April 2021 and June 2021. The journalist was returning to Kabul on June 18 due to issues with his Iranian visa.
The IFJ’s South Asia Press Freedom Report 2022-23 recorded 12 arrests of journalists in Afghanistan between May 1, 2022, and April 30 2023, with Shahir being the third Afghan journalist to be arrested this year. Mortaza Behboudi, a French-Afghan journalist living in France, was arrested on 7 January in Kabul, two days after arriving in Afghanistan. Days later, the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) detained freelance journalist Khairullah Parhar on January 9.
The IFJ said: “The arrest, detention and torture of Reza Shahir is yet another example of the Taliban’s ever-tightening grip on the media in Afghanistan. Journalists should not be arbitrarily targeted and must be able to work freely, without fear of restrictions or reprisals. The IFJ condemns Shahir’s arrest and calls on the Taliban to end its persecution of journalists in Afghanistan.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Torture, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 11, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- May 16, 2023
- Event Description
Mojib Zia, a former civil society activist, was detained at Kabul airport on 16 May. He had worked as a media consultant for the Rahmani Foundation during the previous government but had been living in Iran since the Taliban takeover. He had returned to Afghanistan when his father died and was detained as he made his return journey to Iran. He was released in early June.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
SRMO 2nd Quarterly Report on human rights situation in Afghanistan
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 11, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- May 29, 2023
- Event Description
Local sources report that Taliban intelligence forces have detained a human rights activist for the second time in Kabul city.
According to the sources, the individual in question is named Shams al-Rahman Rahiq, and the Taliban arrested him on Monday, May 29, along with Ata al-Rahman, his uncle’s son, at the Gozargah area in Kabul city. They transferred him to an undisclosed location.
Although the motive behind Rahiq’s arrest is not yet known, sources quoting his relatives say that he has been detained due to his human rights activities.
Sources state that the Taliban had previously arrested Shams al-Rahman about a month ago and held him in prison for a while, but he was released again with the intervention of local elders.
It is worth mentioning that approximately a year ago, the Taliban forcibly removed Rahiq’s father from his home in Paktia and subjected him to physical assault.
Shams al-Rahman Rahiq is a resident of the Abdullahkhel valley in the Dara district of Panjshir province and had been living in Kabul city.
The Taliban has not commented on this matter so far.
It is said that he has also been an employee of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), but the organization has not yet expressed its opinion on the issue.
It should be noted that since their takeover, the Taliban have detained and imprisoned several civil activists and human rights defenders in various provinces of the country.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 6, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- May 18, 2023
- Event Description
Local sources in Parwan province have reported the detention of a school principal by the Taliban.
Lutfullah, also known as Agha-Shirin, was arrested on Thursday, May 18th, in the Bagram district.
According to sources, Lutfullah is the principal of “Abdul Sattar Shahid” High School in the village of Dawlat Shahi in Bagram district, and the Taliban detained him a few days after he criticized the ban on girls’ education.
Sources state that the Taliban intelligence apprehended this school principal during an official meeting at the Education Department of Bagram district and transferred him to an undisclosed location.
The Taliban have not made any comments regarding this incident so far.
Previously, the Taliban had detained and imprisoned several individuals in various provinces of the country on similar charges and for criticizing the group’s governance methods.
In the most recent case in January, the group had detained a young man named Majid Ahmadi in Ghor province for criticizing the ban on girls’ education and transferred him to an undisclosed location.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Academic freedom, Right to education, Right to liberty and security, Women's rights
- HRD
- Public Servant, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 23, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- May 3, 2023
- Event Description
Taliban fighters in Farah Province have detained, beaten, and imprisoned seventy farmers who were protesting the weak management of agricultural product prices in the market.
Sources told Hasht-e Subh that some farmers went to the province’s agriculture department on Wednesday, May 3, and protested. These farmers asked the Taliban’s agriculture department to collaborate with them in controlling the prices of their crops in the markets and to manage the price fluctuations throughout the day, which often drop from 100 to 20 Afghanis.
However, the Taliban not only did not pay attention to their protests and requests but also transferred these farmers by military vehicles to the security observatory in Farah.
Sources say that during the four-hour detention by the Taliban, these farmers were also beaten.
The main agricultural products of this season in Farah Province are eggplants, tomatoes, pumpkins, okra, and watermelons. The lack of storage space and the risk of spoilage are the main concerns of farmers in this province.
Taliban security officials in the province have not yet commented on the detention of protesting farmers.
Earlier, farmers in Farah Province had protested against the unprecedented drop in watermelon prices. In 2022, the price of each kilogram of watermelon in Farah had reached one Afghani.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 7, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Mar 30, 2023
- Event Description
On Thursday, March 30, authorities in the city of Faizabad, in Badakhshan province, shuttered the broadcaster’s operations and sealed its office, according to news reports and an employee of the radio station who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.
The officers at the scene, from the Taliban’s Directorate of Information and Culture and Directorate of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, accused the outlet of illegally airing music during the holy month of Ramadan. The Taliban banned playing and listening to music when it retook power in August 2021.
The radio station employee who spoke to CPJ said she was not aware that any music had been aired, and believed that the decision was retaliation for the station’s programs focusing on women’s education and job opportunities in Badakhshan.
“The Taliban should immediately reverse its decision shuttering the Radio Sada e Banowan broadcaster and allow the outlet to reopen and work freely,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “The Taliban have deprived Afghan women of everything from jobs to education. Shutting down a women-run radio station shows there is no reprieve for the Afghan media even during the holy month of Ramadan. The Taliban must correct its course and stop cracking down on journalism.”
Radio Sada e Banowan was established in 2014 and owned by Afghan female journalist Najla Shirzad. Local Taliban officials allowed the radio station to restart operations not long after the group retook power. It has six employees, according to the person who spoke to CPJ.
CPJ contacted Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid for comment via messaging app but did not receive any response.
In August 2022, CPJ published a special report about the media crisis in Afghanistan, showing a rapid deterioration in press freedom since the Taliban retook control of the country one year earlier, marked by censorship, arrests, assaults, and restrictions on women journalists.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 2, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Mar 26, 2023
- Event Description
At least 20 Afghan women marched in the capital, Kabul, on March 26 to demand the right to education for women and girls before being rounded up by a Taliban patrol.
The demonstration comes amid UN and other international condemnation over ongoing strictures under the Taliban-led government to keep women and girls out of schools, jobs, media, and other aspects of life since the hard-line militant group took power after U.S.-led international forces left in 2021.
Participants in the demonstration told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi that Taliban enforcers arrived shortly after they began their planned march from the Red Bridge area in western Kabul and corralled the protesters to prevent them from continuing.
Video footage shared on social media showed around two dozen veiled women marching with small signs with "education is our right" written on them.
The demonstration was organized by the Afghan Women's Political Participation Network.
Organizers reportedly planned to march toward the Asif Mayel Girls' School, one of dozens of schools violently attacked by Taliban fighters or sympathizers.
"For almost two years, the future and fate of Afghan women have been taken hostage and we have been completely removed from society," one of the protesters, Momine Eftekhari, told Radio Azadi.
"Education is a standard with an educational curriculum that is the right of everyone. Not only is it the right of boys but girls, but unfortunately we have been deprived of education, work, and sports for more than 19 months."
She said the situation was "no longer tolerable [and] that's why we took to the streets."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 1, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Mar 10, 2023
- Event Description
Taliban Shut Down Women’s Voice Radio Station in Badakhshan
Local sources in Badakhshan report that the Taliban fighters have closed the door of Radio Sedaye Banovan (Women’s Voice Radio) in this province.
Local sources say that Taliban closed this radio station on Friday, March 10, in Fayzabad, the center of Badakhshan province.
Sources add that Taliban said during the closure of Women’s Voice Radio that its broadcasts were not in line with their policies.
The policies that Taliban had set for Women’s Radio in Badakhshan included not playing music, not broadcasting live programs by women, and not allowing female presenters to speak in a soft voice.
Officials of the Taliban in Badakhshan have warned the officials of this media outlet that they have no right to operate after this.
Women’s Voice Radio was the only media outlet for women in Badakhshan, which began operating about five years ago and continued to operate even after Taliban seized the power.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Censorship
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 1, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Apr 5, 2023
- Event Description
Local sources in Badakhshan province report that Taliban intelligence agency has arrested a university professor in this province.
Sources on Tuesday, April 5, said that the professor’s name is Sakhi-Dad Sangin and he is the English Language and Literature department professor at Badakhshan University.
Sources add that Taliban arrested him last week on charges of criticizing Taliban educational policies towards girls and the closure of girls’ schools in front of the gates of Badakhshan University as he was leaving the campus.
Meanwhile, another source says that Taliban has arrested him on charges of moral corruption.
This comes as Taliban have imprisoned their critics on similar charges in various provinces.
It is said that the students and faculty of Badakhshan University have not said anything about the arrest of this professor out of fear of Taliban.
Sources say that Sangin had been teaching at Badakhshan University as a professor for the past 10 years, and students have had no complaints about him.
Taliban have not commented on the arrest of this university professor.
Taliban have previously arrested and suppressed a large number of their critics.
In the latest case, they also arrested Mateullah Visa, the head of the Pen Path Foundation.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Academic, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 1, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Mar 19, 2023
- Event Description
Sources confirm that three of the female protesters have been arrested by Taliban fighters in western Kabul.
Sources say that the protesters were arrested on Monday, following the disruption of their protest by Taliban in Dasht-e-Barchi in Kabul city.
Malali Hashemi, Raqiya Sayee, and Fatima Mohammadi are the female protesters who have been arrested by Taliban.
Taliban in Kabul have not yet commented on the matter.
Some female protesters had taken to the streets this morning to protest the blockade of girls’ schools in Kabul. The protest was disrupted by Taliban fighters.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 1, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Feb 12, 2023
- Event Description
Sources said that Taliban intelligence operatives have arrested Mohammad Ismail Rahmani, a Pashto language writer, and social media influencer.
These sources told Afghanistan International that Taliban intelligence forces arrested Rahmani in Kabul on Saturday.
According to these sources, Rahmani has been transferred to an unknown location and his fate is not clear yet.
Ismail Rahmani received a master's degree in Shariah studies from Kabul University and has been a religious scholar.
Supporters and some Pashto writers have expressed concern about Rahmani's arrest and asked the Taliban to release him immediately.
Last week, the Taliban arrested social media influencers Sadullah Didan, also known as Haji Kaka, in Nangarhar province and Imran Ahmadzai in the capital city, Kabul.
On Sunday, the Taliban intelligence agency released a video clip of the forced confessions of these two Afghans, who admitted to anti-Taliban activities on their social media pages that have not been posted.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 25, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Feb 12, 2023
- Event Description
Taliban detained a social media influencer and former member of security forces in the previous government in Kabul, Afghanistan's vernacular media Reporterly reported. The victim has been identified as Abdul Rahim and originally is from the Dare Abdullah Khel area of Panjshir province. He was detained from district 3 of Kabul city on Thursday. Meanwhile, according to local sources, Taliban members also detained Imran Ahmadzai a social media influencer from his home in district 12 of Kabul. Reporterly citing local sources reported that Ahmadzai was detained on February 12 due to spreading anti-Taliban propaganda. On Facebook, Ahmadzai has 23,327 followers and his last video was about people running on Kabul Street with a caption of 'go towards turkey' on February 8, according to Reporterly.
On February 8, hundreds of Afghan citizens rushed to the Kabul airport, after there were rumours that the Taliban were sending Afghans to Turkey. Taliban members had violently engaged with the people and scattered them with aerial shots. Meanwhile, on February 16, Abdul Haq Hemad, director of media oversight at the Taliban's ministry of information and culture confirmed that the Taliban has arrested people who have been suspected of spreading rumours about the transfer of Afghans to Turkiye. While Hemad didn't provide details about the arrested people, it seems that Ahmadzai might have been one of these people arrested by the Taliban on charges of spreading rumours about Turkiye, reported Reporterly. Taliban continue to arrest Afghan citizens who have been active on social media, and/or with a work background in the previous Afghan government. These arrests particularly from the security forces have been mainly focused on Tajiks and Hazara ethnic groups. After the fall of the republic order on August 15, 2021, hundreds of former soldiers who have been unable to leave the country have been arrested, tortured, and even killed by the Taliban. Several audio tapes and a list of ex-soldiers, most of whom are abroad, have been circulating on social media, that talk about the Taliban's attempts to arrest former members of ANDSF, reported Reporterly.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 25, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Feb 9, 2023
- Event Description
After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, they claimed they were committed to upholding and respecting human rights in the country. However, Amnesty has repeatedly documented crimes under international law and violations of human rights carried out by their members since then.
Those arrested recently include: Narges Sadat, a women’s rights defender; Professor Ismail Mashal, a campaigner for women’s education; Fardin Fedayee, a civil society activist; Zekria Asoli, an author and activist; Mortaza Behboudi, an Afghan-French journalist; former senator Qais Khan Wakili; and Afghan journalist Muhammad Yar Majroh.
To date, Amnesty understands only Professor Ismail Mashal has been released. In many cases of detention, no information is provided regarding the reason for the individual’s arrest and their whereabouts often remain unknown, which amounts to enforced disappearance.
Fardin Fedayee an Afghan civil society activist is abducted by Taliban four days ago while he left home for work in was taken and there is no news about his whereabout.
In the past few days, several civil society activists are arbitrary arrested in Afghanistan.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 25, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jan 21, 2023
- Event Description
The Taliban arrested a civilian in Paktika whose brother had posted critical content on Facebook.
Local sources said on Saturday, January 21, that the young brother of this arrested person was a civil society activist in Paktika before the Taliban takeover and is currently in exile.
This civil activist, whose name is Mohammad Muqtasad, recently criticized the Taliban’s ban on university education for women in a Facebook post.
According to local sources, after this Facebook post, the Taliban arrested Ayaz Bacha, the brother of Mohammad Muqtasad, in Yusuf Khel district of Paktika province.
The Taliban in Paktika have not yet expressed their opinion in this regrad.
It should be mentioned that the Taliban recently arrested a poet in Paktika for writing a critical poem.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 25, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jan 7, 2023
- Event Description
Sultan Ali Ziaei, a young Hazara activist, was arrested by the Taliban on January 7.
Sources tell BNN; Ali Ziaei is being arrested, who was talking to a group of women about closing schools, universities and banning women from working.
Meanwhile, Taliban fighters entered the house and checked the girls’ phones and threatened to kill three of the girls. After that, they took Sultan Ali Ziaei with them.
Ali Ziaei is the only son of his family, now that his father is in a sick bed, he does not know about his son’s condition and wants his son’s release.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 25, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jan 7, 2023
- Event Description
Sultan Ali Ziaei, a young Hazara activist, was arrested by the Taliban on January 7.
Sources tell BNN; Ali Ziaei is being arrested, who was talking to a group of women about closing schools, universities and banning women from working.
Meanwhile, Taliban fighters entered the house and checked the girls’ phones and threatened to kill three of the girls. After that, they took Sultan Ali Ziaei with them.
Ali Ziaei is the only son of his family, now that his father is in a sick bed, he does not know about his son’s condition and wants his son’s release.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 25, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jan 7, 2023
- Event Description
Sultan Ali Ziaei, a young Hazara activist, was arrested by the Taliban on January 7.
Sources tell BNN; Ali Ziaei is being arrested, who was talking to a group of women about closing schools, universities and banning women from working.
Meanwhile, Taliban fighters entered the house and checked the girls’ phones and threatened to kill three of the girls. After that, they took Sultan Ali Ziaei with them.
Ali Ziaei is the only son of his family, now that his father is in a sick bed, he does not know about his son’s condition and wants his son’s release.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 25, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Mar 8, 2023
- Event Description
Sources confirmed to KabulNow that the Taliban arrested Rasul Abdi Parsi, a former lecturer at Herat University, in Kabul 20 days ago. However, his whereabouts and fate remain unknown.
Parsi was arrested for criticizing the Taliban on his Facebook account as he continued to write posts critical of the Taliban performance, his friends told KabulNow on Tuesday.
He had formerly taught Islamic sharia or Islamic laws at Herat University and has been living in the capital Kabul for a while.
Some university lecturers and his friends have launched a campaign in western Herat province for his release from Taliban custody. They warned that his life is at risk.
The Taliban has not commented on his arrest. The group has recently increased the arrests of activists, protesters, university lecturers, journalists, and human rights activists in recent months.
In the latest case, the group arrested Matiullah Wesa, an education campaigner, from Kabul on Monday. His arrest drew widespread reactions and calls for his release.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Academic, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 25, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Feb 2, 2023
- Event Description
The UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Monday welcomed the reported release of two women’s rights activists Nargis Sadat and Zakaria Osuli.
However, the mission said it remained concerned about ongoing arbitrary detention of a number of Afghanistan civil society activists, including rights defenders who had spoken out about rights of women and girls, some held incommunicado for months.
Sadat, member of the Leadership Council of the Movement, was detained on February 23 from Pul-i-Sokhta area of Kabul.
“We continue to engage with de facto authorities on cases but are dismayed by lack of information provided, despite ongoing requests, “ UNAMA said, calling for the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained.
“No Afghan should be detained for exercising their freedom of expression”.
Before UNAMA tweet, Nargis Sadat’s husband confirmed to Voice of America that his wife had been released, but did not provide further details.
According to Voice of America, officials told her husband that his wife was against the regime and had anti-Taliban videos and pictures on her phone.
The caretaker government is yet to comment about the release of the two activists.
Sources confirmed that women’s rights activist Nargis Sadat was released after nearly two months in Taliban prison on Monday afternoon.
Two sources from her relatives and friends said Sadat returned home at around 1 pm Kabul time on Monday.
Taliban so far has not commented on her release.
Meanwhile, Zakaria Osuli, a university lecturer and writer, was released from Taliban prison, his family confirmed. His family said he returned home nearly at around 12 pm local time on Monday. Taliban has not commented on his release. Osuli was arrested in Khairkhana area in the north of Kabul on Feb. 2.
This comes as the women’s protest movement on Sunday, April 9, said that women’s rights activist Nargis Sadat who was arrested by the Taliban in February “has been severely tortured” while in custody and is “ill.”
The movement said in a statement that Sadat’s feet and hands have turned “black” and are swollen and covered in blisters. The movement also said she was in a critical psychological condition.
The movement added that over the past two weeks, Sadat has been kept with two other women in one cell. These two women have been charged with having links with Daesh.
According to the movement, Sadat is a leading member of the women’s protest movement and was arrested in Kabul on Feb. 11. She had been ill at the time and was on her way to a hospital when detained.
Reports indicate that at least five people, including a journalist, a musician, two activists and a university lecturer, are in Taliban custody for the past few weeks.
Taliban did not comment on remarks by the women’s movement.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Academic, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 25, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Event Description
A prominent Afghan campaigner for female education has been arrested by the Taliban, even as teenage girls and women remain barred from classrooms.
Matiullah Wesa, 30, had often received threats - he has spent years travelling across Afghanistan trying to improve access to education for all children.
The Taliban did not say why Mr Wesa is in custody. His house was also raided.
His arrest follows the detention of a number of other activists who have been campaigning for women's education.
In February Prof Ismail Mashal, an outspoken critic of the Taliban government's ban on education for women, was arrested in Kabul while handing out free books. He was freed on 5 March but has not spoken out since then.
Mr Wesa is one of the most prominent education activists in Afghanistan and, via his charity PenPath, has been campaigning for girls' right to study since the Taliban barred female education in 2021.
His last tweet - on Monday, the day of his arrest - was a photo of women volunteers for PenPath "asking for the Islamic rights to education for their daughters".
The UN's mission in Afghanistan has also highlighted Mr Wesa's case and called on the Taliban to clarify his whereabouts and the reasons for his detention.
Mr Wesa was arrested after he came out of a mosque in the capital Kabul on Monday.
"The Taliban came in two vehicles," a person close to the family told the BBC. "He was handcuffed and put in the car.
"Today at 10am, the Taliban went to his house and raided it. They turned it upside down, threatened his family against speaking out, seized phones, documents and computers. Matiullah's brothers were briefly detained and then released with a warning."
Mr Wesa has travelled to hundreds of districts in Afghanistan over the past decade to promote the cause of education.
The PenPath network he founded has more than 2,400 volunteers across the country. They help set up local classrooms, find teachers and distribute books and stationery.
The ban on girls attending secondary schools has not stopped Mr Wesa. "The damage that closure of schools causes is irreversible and undeniable," he tweeted last week.
Women's rights have been gradually eroded since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led forces.
Only boys and male teachers were allowed into secondary schools when they reopened in September 2021.
There was a brief spell of hope following an announcement in March 2022 that girls would be allowed to attend secondary schools. But tearful schoolgirls were turned away after what appeared to be an abrupt U-turn by the Taliban leadership.
They said girls would be allowed to return to school after "a comprehensive plan has been prepared according to Sharia and Afghan culture". But in December 2022, female students were also barred from universities.
The Taliban say schools and universities are only temporarily closed to women and girls until a "suitable environment" can be created.
But women are severely curtailed in other ways too. The Taliban have decreed that women should be dressed in a way that only reveals their eyes, and must be accompanied by a male relative if they are travelling more than 72km (48 miles).
And last November, women were banned from parks, gyms and swimming pools, stripping away the simplest of freedoms. The enforcement of the rules is different in different areas, but the rules create an environment of fear and anxiety.
The restrictions have continued despite international condemnation and protests by ordinary women as well as activists speaking up on their behalf.
They have also hindered the work of foreign aid groups after the Taliban said women could not work in domestic and international NGOs except in the health sector.
Some organisations were forced to suspend services at a time when the country is reeling from a severe economic and humanitarian crisis.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 25, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Mar 5, 2023
- Event Description
Ghor Civil Society Network has called on the Taliban to release human rights activist Habiba Sharifi who was arrested after protesting outside the provincial governor’s office on Wednesday.
In a statement released on Thursday, the organization said that Habiba raised her voice for human rights and women’s rights, and that she had not committed a crime but had been arrested and imprisoned.
The network called on the Taliban to “tolerate” peaceful protests by Afghan women and stated they have a right to get an education and to work based on Islamic law.
The organization also called on the international community to step in and make the Taliban release Habiba and her father, who they also arrested.
Habiba Sharifi on Wednesday, on the occasion of International Women’s Day (March 8), protested alone in front of the Taliban governor’s office in Ghor and held a poster with a slogan demanding education, work, and social justice for women.
The Taliban, however, arrested Habiba and her father later that day at their home.
According to sources, the Taliban are holding Habiba in Firozkoh prison and her father is being held at the group’s intelligence directorate.
The U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, said in his latest report this week that the situation in Afghanistan has significantly deteriorated and the Taliban are systematically and intentionally erasing Afghan women from public life.
The Taliban has not commented on the detention of Habiba Sharifi so far.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 25, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Feb 15, 2023
- Event Description
The Taliban’s rise to power in Afghanistan has led to the implementation of strict Islamic law, resulting in the complete ban on education for girls. The barbaric regime’s oppressive actions have left women and children in a constant state of fear, with the latest victim being Mrs. Zarifa Rahmat.
Prior to the Taliban’s reign, Mrs. Rahmat was a private school teacher, but after the extremist group took over, she was forced to abandon her profession. Despite the ban, Mrs. Rahmat continued to teach young girls in her neighborhood in Kabul. However, on the 15th of February, Mrs. Rahmat became a target of the Taliban’s ruthless oppression. At 1 AM, the Taliban’s intelligence unit, known as Directorate 40, forcefully broke into Mrs. Rahmat’s home and abducted her while she was sleeping with her children. The Taliban then contacted her family, instructing them not to inform anyone of the kidnapping and not to publish the news on social media, promising her release by 10 AM.
Desperate to find his daughter, Mrs. Rahmat’s father rushed to Kabul from Herat province. Upon arrival, he contacted the National Intelligence Unit (Directorate 40), only to be told by the Taliban that they had no knowledge of her whereabouts. However, after her husband, Mohammed Rahed, publicized the news on Facebook, the Taliban finally acknowledged that they had abducted her. They offered to release her on the condition that she leave Kabul and stop teaching young girls. She was to go to the Shendand district of Herat province, accompanied by her father, and was warned not to raise her voice.
It’s worth noting that this is not the first time Mrs. Rahmat has been harassed by the Taliban. A month prior, she was summoned by the 5th district of Kabul Police department for allegedly gathering women to protest for women’s rights. They confiscated her national ID card and passport, only returning the former, which later expired, causing her eVisa of Iran to lapse.
The abduction of Mrs. Rahmat is just one example of the Taliban’s brutal oppression of women and their denial of the basic human right to education. Women and girls are not only banned from going to school, but they are also prohibited from participating in any economic or social activities outside their homes without a male guardian. The Taliban’s strict interpretation of Islamic law has stripped women of their freedom and subjected them to a life of slavery. The international community has condemned the Taliban’s actions, and various organizations are calling for immediate action to protect women’s rights in Afghanistan. However, the Taliban remain defiant and continue to impose their strict laws. The tragic story of Mrs. Zarifa Rahmat is a stark reminder of the atrocities that Afghan women face daily, and the urgent need for action to protect their rights.
The Taliban’s rise to power has caused immeasurable suffering to the people of Afghanistan, especially women and children. The international community must take a stand against this barbaric regime and work to protect the rights of Afghan women and girls. The kidnapping of Mrs. Zarifa Rahmat is a tragic and heartbreaking reminder of the horrors that Afghan women endure under the Taliban’s oppressive rule.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Public Servant, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 25, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Apr 20, 2023
- Event Description
Waheeda Mahrami, an Afghan women activist who was detained by the Taliban officials in the week, was released on Thursday, Afghanistan International reported.
Taliban had detained Waheeda Mahrami, a women activist on Monday, March 20 in Kabul, according to a source close to her. On March 8, the International Women’s Day Mahrami described the restrictions on Afghan women as “gender apartheid”, which eventually led to her detention.
It is reported that Mahrami had left her home on March 20 to attend an event celebrating the ancient New Year (Nowruz) festival, but never returned home since then.
The Taliban authorities have not yet commented about the woman activist’s arbitrary detention and her release so far.
Mahrami used to regularly participate in women’s protests in Kabul, demanding the restoration of Afghan women’s rights and freedom. With the resumption of universities and educational institutions for male students, Maharmi was one of the few female students who participated in a symbolic protest and led a book behind the closed gate of Kabul University.
The United Nations and the international community has described the ban on Afghan women’s education as gender apartheid, which would adversely affect half of the country’s total population.
Meanwhile, the de facto authorities of Afghanistan are allegedly accused of arbitrary detentions, harassment, and mistreatment of rights activists, women activists, and journalists since the group’s return to power.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 25, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Feb 23, 2023
- Event Description
According to local sources reports, Taliban have arrested a social and media activist in Takhar province.
Subhanullah Subhani was arrested 20 days ago by the Taliban intelligence services, sources reported on Wednesday.
Subhani is being tortured by Taliban reportedly and is in bad condition.
He has been arrested because of his critical posts on social media groups, sources added.
He was a teacher at Abu-Osman Taliqani School for years and recently obtained his doctorate degree in International Relations department from Khorazmi University in Iran.
He went to Takhar to visit his family a month ago.
Recently, there has been an increase in the arrest of social and media activists by the Taliban.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Torture, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 19, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Feb 12, 2023
- Event Description
An Afghan women’s rights activist has been detained in Kabul without any information on her whereabouts from Taliban authorities, as another woman was detained and beaten in northern Takhar province for calling for women’s rights.
Nargis Sadat was arrested while travelling in Pul-e-Surkh area of west Kabul on Sunday afternoon. Mrs. Sadat’s relatives told Rukhshana Media that she was not in good health and she had gone to the hospital for treatment. While on her way from the hospital to her sister’s house, she was detained at a checkpoint by Taliban forces in Kabul city’s district three.
The Taliban took Mrs. Sadat’s phone and went through it, then detained her on the grounds that it contained videos and photos of women protesting. Her family have not been allowed any information of her whereabouts.
“After her husband heard the news of her arrest, he went to the local police district. Narges’ phone was in the hands of the police chief there and he told Narges’ husband that she was a leader of the women’s protests so the police called the intelligence department to come and investigate her,” a source close to the family said.
Her husband was not even allowed to see her and make sure of her health condition, a family member told Rukhshana Media, adding that the Sadat’s have a 10-year-old son who was not coping well mentally.
Narges Sadat, is a leading member of the Afghan Powerful Women Movement.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 20, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Feb 12, 2023
- Event Description
A young woman, Parisa Mubariz, and her brother were detained and beaten by Taliban forces in Takhar province.
Taliban forces went to the Mubariz family home in Taleqan city around 8:00am on Sunday as the family were having breakfast, a source close to the family said.
“Her brother went to see who it was. As soon as he opened the gate, they first arrested him. Then two Taliban policewomen entered the house without permission and took Parisa away with them. They did not even give her a chance to wear her hijab,” the source said.
Parisa’s mother ran to get her daughter a hijab and begged the Taliban forces not to take her children. One of the male Talibs entered the house and took Parisa’s phone, the source said.
“The Taliban just came and took Parisa and her 19-year-old brother with them without explaining the reason,” the source added.
The pair were released about seven hours later through the mediation of their elders and relatives.
The source said that after the arrest, their mother fainted and she was transferred to Mellat Hospital in the center of Taleqan city. She has since returned home. Parisa’s father, 68, works in Iran to provide an income for his family.
A family member said Parisa has been severely beaten for refusing to provide the password to unlock her phone and allow the Taliban to look through it. They added that the Taliban did not have any document indicating Parisa had participated in protests.
In a picture seen by Rukhshana Media of Parisa after her release, her head is covered with a white cloth and a cannula needle is attached to her left hand.
The Taliban made Parisa promise to refrain from any protests against them and any women’s activities that lead to opposition to their regime, according to the source.
One of Parisa’s colleagues also said that the Taliban released Parisa from prison on the condition that she does not carry out protest activities against the Taliban.
In response to the arrests, a number of women have uploaded videos of themselves protesting from home demanding the release of these women and further demanding the restoration of women’s rights in Afghanistan.
The Taliban fighters arrested and imprisoned Parisa Mobarez, a female protester in the northern province of Takhar, along with her brother. They were arrested from their home.
Through the intercession of local elders, Mrs. Mobarez and her brother were released after spending 24 hours in the Taliban prison.
Various sources have confirmed to Nimrokh that the Taliban have taken a commitment from Mobarez’s father that his daughter would have to no longer protest against them.
After release, Mobarez told media that she and her brother were severely beaten and tortured in prison by the Taliban men. The Taliban have also seized her cell phone and are pressuring her to let them access its contents.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Torture, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Minority Rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Family of HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 20, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Feb 14, 2023
- Event Description
The Taliban must allow Tamadon TV to operate freely and independently and end its campaign of harassment and violence against journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.
On Tuesday, February 14, about 10 armed Taliban members raided the headquarters of the privately owned broadcaster in Kabul, beat several staff members, and held them for 30 minutes, according to news reports and a journalist familiar with the case who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal.
That journalist said they did not know what led to the raid. Tamadon TV is predominantly owned and operated by members of the Hazara ethnic minority, and covers political and current affairs as well as Shiite religious programming. Hazara people have faced persecution and escalated violence since the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021.
“The Taliban’s raid of Tamadon TV and attacks on its employees show the group’s failure to abide by its professed commitment to freedom of expression in Afghanistan,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Access to information in Afghanistan is critical. The Taliban must stop harassing journalists and stifling the work of the free press.”
While entering the broadcaster’s premises, Taliban members beat a security guard, two journalists, and two media workers, the journalist who spoke to CPJ said.
The Taliban members then pointed guns the station’s staff members, confiscated their mobile phones, and transferred them to a meeting room, where they were held for 30 minutes while Taliban members verbally harassed them, referring to one as an “infidel Hazara journalist,” according to that journalist.
Taliban members roamed around the headquarters, but it was not clear if they conducted any additional searches, and then confiscated two of the broadcaster’s vehicles when they left the scene.
CPJ contacted Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid for comment via messaging app but did not receive any response.
In August 2022, CPJ published a special report about the media crisis in Afghanistan, showing a rapid deterioration in press freedom since the Taliban retook control of the country, marked by censorship, arrests, assaults, and restrictions on women journalists.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Raid, Vilification, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 18, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Feb 3, 2023
- Event Description
Afghan professor Ismail Mashal went viral on social media late last year after he ripped up his academic degrees live on TV to protest the Taliban's ban on women attending university.
More recently, the 37-year-old professor handed out hundreds of free books to girls and women across the capital, Kabul.
But on February 2, Mashal’s defiance of the Taliban’s restrictions on female education finally caught up with him. The professor was beaten and arrested by Taliban fighters.
Mashal is the latest victim of the Taliban’s crackdown on dissent. Since seizing power in 2021, the hard-line Islamists have violently dispersed peaceful protesters and detained and beaten journalists and activists.
Mashal is among the scores of Afghan university professors and teachers who resigned after the Taliban banned university education for women on December 20, in a move that triggered a local and international outcry. Mashal also closed the private Mashal University, which had some 400 students, that he had founded.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to education, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Academic, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 5, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jan 3, 2023
- Event Description
A young man in Ghor was arrested for posting critical content on Facebook and criticizing the Taliban for the ban on university education for women.
Local sources told Hasht-e Subh on Tuesday, January 3 that Majid Ahmadi, who had criticized the Taliban on his Facebook page for their decision to ban university education for women, was arrested by Taliban forces.
Taliban members arrested the young man four days ago in Firuzkoh, the capital city of Ghor province, according to sources. Sourced reiterated there are no details about his whereabouts and whether he is alive or dead.
Taliban officials in Ghor have not hitherto expressed their opinion on this matter.
The Taliban had kept another young man in custody for almost two months in Ghor province for criticizing the group’s governance and incompetency.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 15, 2023
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Dec 23, 2022
- Event Description
6 women among 8 protesters arrested by Taliban members in Afghanistan’s northern Takhar province.
The Taliban have suppressed a march initiated by female students in Taloqan city, sources in Takhar confirmed.
Sources detailed the Taliban arrested two male protesters yesterday and six female protesters today.
Most of the protestors are students of local-based education centers and private universities who had gathered in Yunus Abad and Maarif Alley.
According to sources, the Taliban dispersed the protesters and did not allow local journalists to cover the march.
Meanwhile, female protesters in Herat were also violently dispersed by the Taliban. The Taliban used water cannons to disperse the protesters.
- Impact of Event
- 8
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 30, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Dec 24, 2022
- Event Description
The Taliban violently suppressed a rare women’s demonstration in Herat province.
Several dozens of female protesters took to the streets in Herat on Saturday morning (December 24th) to protest against the Taliban’s regressive order, and their protest was immediately dispersed by the Taliban.
Despite being violently suppressed by the Taliban, protesters in Herat still continue to chant slogans, and the Taliban frequently used water cannons for dispersing crowds and limiting access to certain areas, sources indicated.
Protestors consider the Taliban’s order to ban university education for girls against Islamic principles, calling on the Taliban to “respect the holy book and do not deny women’s rights of access to education.”
The Taliban’s decision to ban university education for women has led to widespread objections at the national and international arenas.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 30, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Dec 22, 2022
- Event Description
Defying the Taliban’s latest ban on university education for women, dozens of Afghan women's rights activists and girl students Thursday staged a protest in Kabul, Takhar and Nangarhar provinces, demanding that women be allowed access to education and employment.
“Rights for everyone or no one,” the women wearing Islamic hijabs chanted as they marched through the streets in the western part of the capital, Kabul, home to the country’s largest universities.
Eyewitnesses said the protests in Kabul were quickly shut down by Taliban security officials and that at least five women and a couple of male protesters were arrested. Sources connected to women activists confirmed two of those arrested were released.
One of the female protesters, who asked that her name not be used for fear of Taliban retaliation, told VOA, “The Taliban forces beat us up and arrested some of our female and male protesters and took them away. They scattered us apart. However, we will not let it go. We will fight for our rights.”
'They kicked us out'
The Taliban’s armed security guards on Wednesday allowed male students to attend exams but stopped female students from entering their classrooms in different universities.
"We went to the university to give our exam; our male classmates were able to get in the hall, but we were not allowed by the armed Taliban forces. They kicked us out of the university with violence and cruelty, as if we had committed a huge crime. We have four exams left. What is going to be our future?” said one female student from Nangarhar University who asked not to be identified for safety reasons.
“I had studied and prepared for my exam until very late that night. As soon as I woke up and saw the news about the ban, my dreams shattered. I started crying. Why are we treated as criminals? We have no respect and no values for these people,” said Bahar Ahmadzai, a student at Kabul Medical University.
The ban was announced Tuesday, a day before the universities’ final exams.
Following broad condemnation of the move, the Taliban’s higher education minister, Neda Mohammad Nadeem, defended the decision in a post on Twitter.
“The Nation is angry with me because of the closure of girls' education, while this is the order of the Messenger of Allah," the tweet said. "Islam does not allow women to do prostitution in the name of education. A woman is like a piece of land owned by a man, and she is obligated to be at his service, not perusing education.”
In the eastern city of Nangarhar, some male university students also walked out of their exams in protest against the Taliban’s decision to ban female students from higher education.
One male student, who also declined to provide his name, said, “We did not attend the exam and we will not until our female classmates are allowed to take exams, too.”
On Wednesday after female students were not allowed to take part in the exams, several male professors from various universities in multiple provinces resigned in protest.
'Dark day'
Obaidullah Wardak, assistant professor at Kabul University, said, “I and some of my colleagues resigned in protest against this dark day. We will not return to the university unless the decision is revoked by the Taliban.”
Afghan writer and human rights activist Shafiqa Khpalwak called the ban on girls’ education a crime against humanity. She asked the international community and Islamic countries to step forward and help the Afghan women in this fight against extremism.
“This catastrophe does not only concern the rise of women but threatens the whole existence of our country," she said. "The so called 'international community' is also responsible for the crisis and now they cannot look away from us, they cannot walk away from the mess they have created. We need them to come up with practical and pragmatic solutions that will eventually bring results for us.”
“Afghan women are alone in this fight against radicalism. They need help!” she added.
Lida Afghan, a Danish-Afghan artist whose art highlights social problems and women’s rights, said it is time for the world to stand with the Afghan women.
“I was supposed to focus on my exams today and then I got the news that Afghan women are banned from going to the university," Lida said. "I thought: It could have been any of us if our parents hadn’t fled the country. In these tough times the whole world should be standing up for the Afghan women, knowing it could have been one of us.”
The Taliban have so far shut girls’ secondary schools; banned women from public parks, gyms and baths; imposed mandatory hijab “covering faces”; and imposed executions and harsh public punishments such as flogging.
Several countries including the United States and the U.N.'s mission in Afghanistan asked the Taliban leadership to "immediately" revoke the decision.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 30, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Nov 24, 2022
- Event Description
More than a dozen Afghan women protested briefly in Kabul on November 24, calling for their rights to be recognized on the eve of the UN's International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Afghan women have been squeezed out of public life since the Taliban's return to power in August last year, but small groups have staged flash protests that are usually quickly shut down, sometimes violently. Earlier this month the Taliban barred women from entering parks, funfairs, gyms, and public baths.The veiled women carried pickets with slogans decrying the deprivation of their rights under the Taliban. The march organizers said the Taliban had briefly detained three of the demonstrators.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest, Women's rights
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 28, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Nov 10, 2022
- Event Description
In continuation of suppressing and detaining protesting women, sources report that the Taliban have arrested another protesting girl.
According to sources, on Thursday, November 10, the Taliban arrested Humaira Yousuf, one of the women activists in the field of human rights, who is a resident of Abdullah Khel village, Dara district of Panjshir province.
Sources add that the Taliban arrested her in the 11th district of Kabul city after several months of pursuit.
Humaira’s father is a retired general of the previous government.
According to reports, the Taliban have arrested six protesting women in less than ten days.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 20, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Nov 14, 2022
- Event Description
Sources report that Parveen Sadat, one of the female activists, has been missing since last night.
Sources claim that on Tuesday, November 15, after Parveen Sadat’s voice was published on social media concerning the Taliban’s soldiers in her residence, there is no news on her whereabouts and fate.
Some women activists argue that the disappearance of this lady is linked to the chain of arrest of women by the Taliban.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 20, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Nov 19, 2022
- Event Description
In an interview, sources confirmed Thursday that Farhat Popalzai was arrested by the Taliban six days after the arrest of Zarifa Yaqoobi along with her four other colleagues.
According to sources, the Taliban fighters have taken Popalzai with her father to one of the security areas of Kabul and arrested her after checking her cell phone.
The Taliban have not yet provided details on the matter.
Zarifa Yaqoobi, a women’s rights activist, was arrested in Kabul last Thursday, and still, her hideout along with her four colleagues is not yet clear.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Women's rights
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 17, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Oct 30, 2022
- Event Description
The Taliban beat up female protestors at Badakhshan University and suppressed the demonstration.
A number of female students in Badakhshan protested on Sunday morning (October 30th) after they were prevented from entering the university campus by the Taliban.
The Taliban did not allow these students to enter Badakhshan University because they did not wear burqas and wore local clothes.
Sources added that the intelligence of the Taliban has also arrested another group of girls from the Badakhshan University dormitory who were chanting death slogans against the Taliban on the roads in Shahr-e Naw, Faizabad city.
The Taliban have already deployed more forces to prevent students from going to the university classes, according to sources.
This is while the protests of female students in Herat, Balkh, Kabul and Bamiyan were also suppressed by the Taliban and a number of students were arrested and tortured.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to education, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 6, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Oct 31, 2022
- Event Description
A number of women wanted to display their educational documents in Kabul in protest against the ban on women’s right to work.
The program was launched on Monday morning (October 31st) in Shahr-e Naw Park in Kabul.
Videotapes released by a female protester show that Taliban fighters are present in Shahr-e Naw Park, and one of them tears placards with slogans and educational documents of protesting girls and tells the protestors to leave the area.
These girls had gathered in protest against the violation of women’s right to work in Afghanistan by the Taliban.
Previously, women’s protests in different provinces have been suppressed by the Taliban.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 6, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Nov 3, 2022
- Event Description
The United Nations human rights office has voiced concern over the detention of five people after the Taliban disrupted a press conference in Kabul intended to launch a new women's movement.
One woman, Zarifa Yaqobi, and four male colleagues were arrested at the event and remained in detention on November 4, UN rights office spokesman Jeremy Laurence told reporters in Geneva.
A women's rights activists who did not want to be named due to security concerns told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi that Yaqobi was arrested after announcing the founding of the Afghan Women's Movement for Equality.
"The whole place was militarized. We thought they were going to bring us all to one place," the activist said. "First they took the boys, then they locked the women in the room."
The women were temporarily detained and subjected to phone and body searches before being released, the activist and the UN rights office said.
The activist said that later on November 3 the Taliban took Yaqobi's sister, Arifa Yaqobi, and her husband-in-law's brother under the pretext they should be with Yaqobi at night.
Laurence said the UN had received "deeply worrying reports that yesterday (November 3) afternoon in Kabul, a number of de facto security officials disrupted a press conference by a women's civil society organization."
He said the UN rights office is "concerned about the welfare of these five individuals and [has] sought information from the de facto authorities regarding their detention."
A Taliban spokesman did not immediately provide a comment, Reuters reported.
The four men detained along with Yaqobi were her brothers, a women's rights activist told AFP. The activist, who identified herself only by the name Mandegar because of security concerns, said when the news conference started the Taliban told the organizers they could not hold it and asked the journalists who were present to leave.
She said the Taliban sent in female police officers who "checked our phones and deleted all images of the event." The officers also "insulted and threatened us before they allowed us to leave one by one."
Women's freedoms in Afghanistan have been undermined since the Taliban seized power in August 2021 as international forces backing a pro-Western government pulled out. The Taliban has issued a slew of restrictions controlling women's lives, blocking girls from returning to secondary schools and barring women from many government jobs.
Fawzia Kofi, a member of Afghanistan's Moj Talaq Party, told Radio Azadi that Yaqobi was also a member of the party and her actions show that the Taliban is afraid of women.
"I expect the men of Afghanistan to stand by their sisters in this situation and not allow (the Taliban) to misrepresent religion and human rights," Kofi said.
Shukria Barakzai, the former ambassador of Afghanistan to Norway and a women's rights activist, said such actions by the Taliban will have bad consequences for the militants.
"Limiting the freedoms of Afghans, whether it is in speech or in the demands of the people, is the work of the Taliban. There is no doubt that today the Taliban consider women as their main enemies," she said.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Family of HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 6, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Oct 4, 2022
- Event Description
Local sources in Ghazni province confirm the Taliban raided a protest gathering of Naw Abad residents in Ghazni city, which was held with the aim of condemning the attack on Kaj institute, and arrested dozens of protesting boys and girls.
Sources said Tuesday that the Taliban scattered the march and took the protesting girls and boys to the 6th security district after being beaten.
The detainees have been released after being mediated by the local tribal elders, sources added.
According to local sources, the Taliban also canceled students’ protests at Ghazni University the day before.
Friday’s suicide bombing at Kaj institute in West Kabul reportedly killed 53 and injured 110 of which 16 victims were residents of Ghazni.
The Taliban meanwhile also prevented students’ march in Nangarhar and Kunar province Tuesday and did not allow them to hold a memorial ceremony for the victims of Kaj Educational Center.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Youth
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 20, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Oct 2, 2022
- Event Description
The Taliban rebels have scattered the demonstrations of female students over Friday’s suicide bombing in Kabul at Herat University by opening fire, sources said.
According to sources, the Taliban opened fire near the protesters to prevent the march from continuing.
However, one of the protestors said that despite the Taliban’s fire, the protests are still going on.
Female students took to the streets Sunday with slogans of “stop Hazara genocide and the “right to education”.
Yesterday, a number of girls demonstrated in Kabul in response to this attack, but it was scattered by the Taliban.
Nearly 150 people were killed and injured in Friday’s deadly attack at Kaj Educational Center.
Meanwhile, Friday’s suicide bombing in Kabul sparked national and international reactions.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 20, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 29, 2022
- Event Description
The Taliban fighters scattered the protests of women in Kabul by opening fire who were marching for the killing of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian girl.
This march was held on Thursday by a number of women in protest against the murder of this Iranian girl in front of the Iranian embassy in Kabul.
Protesters chanted the slogans “women, life and freedom”, “Iran stood, now it’s our turn” and “from Kabul to Iran, say no to dictatorship”.
As reported, within the minutes that the protests began, the Taliban dispersed the women by opening fire.
Meanwhile, it is not the first time that the Taliban use bullets against the civil and peaceful protest of women.
Amini, 22, from the northwestern Kurdish city of Saqez, was arrested on Sept. 13 in Tehran for “unsuitable attire” by the morality police who enforce the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code.
She died three days later in hospital after falling into a coma, sparking the first big show of opposition on Iran’s streets since authorities crushed protests against a rise in gasoline prices in 2019.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 20, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Oct 1, 2022
- Event Description
Female students marched in the Dasht-e Barchi area to condemn repeated attacks on Hazaras and education centers related to the Hazara community, which were violently dispersed by the Taliban.
One of the protestors, on the condition of anonymity, told Hasht-e Subh that dozens of female students started marching in the west of Kabul at 10:00 a.m. today (Saturday, October 1st).
According to this protester, the rally was launched to protest over Friday’s suicide attack on the students of the Kaj education center in Kabul. The protest started from the Pul-e Sukhta area and the protesters wanted to go to Mohammad Ali Jinnah Hospital.
The protester says that the Taliban stopped the protestors near Mohammad Ali Jinnah hospital with aerial gunshots and violent behavior.
The Taliban have beaten the female students with rifles and electric gears. The Taliban have stopped the journalists from covering this event.
Approximately 100 students were killed and injured in a suicide attack yesterday at Kaj education center in the west of Kabul where a mock Kankor examination was held.
--
A source in the girls’ dormitory of Kabul University confirms that 80% of the female students in this dormitory have been poisoned.
The source, speaking to Hasht-e Subh said that this incident happened on Saturday morning, October 1, when students were supposed to demonstrate at the girls’ dormitory of Kabul University on Sunday in response to the continuing attacks on educational centers.
According to the sources, the hostel manager and some of the staff members are healthy, except for the cooks.
The officials of the girls’ dormitory of Kabul University, after facing the reaction of the students blame hygiene and the use of outside food as the reason behind the issue.
Several poisoned students visited the doctor at their own expense after their condition worsened.
Following the attack on Kaaj Educational Center in west Kabul, a large number of women in Kabul, Herat, and Bamyan provinces staged on the streets, and tens of thousands of users on social media launched a campaign under the name “Stop the Genocide and Killing the Millennials”.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Media Worker, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 20, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 10, 2022
- Event Description
The Taliban’s Intelligence forces have arrested at least 8 local journalists in Paktia province after the news of female students’ protest leaked.
A reliable local source says that following the news of the protest of female students in Paktia, the intelligence of the Taliban detained and interrogated 8 journalists for several hours on Saturday (September 10th).
Taliban forces have searched the journalist’s equipment and mobile phones, warning them to be cautious in publishing news.
Meanwhile, local sources say that the students of Simin Akbari High School in Samkanai district of Paktia, who had gone to school on Sunday morning (September 11th), returned home after being fired upon by the Taliban.
Closing the education doors to girls after nearly a week in Paktia has spiked widespread reactions.
- Impact of Event
- 8
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 18, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 8, 2022
- Event Description
Local sources in Jawzjan report the arrest of two freelance journalists and a couple by Taliban intelligence.
Local sources told Hasht-e Subh that Shuja Zaki and Obaid, two freelancers, were arrested on Thursday (September 8th) at a Taliban checkpoint while returning from Jawzjan districts to the center of the province and were taken to an unknown location.
Before their trip to Jawzjan, these two freelance journalists had announced on their Facebook pages about their trip to the Faizabad district of Jawzjan and preparing a report on the recent fires in this district.
Meanwhile, other sources in Jawzjan say that these two journalists were working for a YouTube channel and were arrested at night by Taliban intelligence with a couple from a hotel in Shaberghan city, the center of Jawzjan.
The identity of the arrested couple is not yet known. The Taliban have not yet said anything about the news.
The intelligence of the Taliban in Paktia previously detained 8 journalists for several hours on Saturday and interrogated them for covering the protest of schoolgirls.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 18, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 12, 2022
- Event Description
The Taliban Vice and Virtue Department in Kandahar province has detained four women who are United Nations employees on the charges of violating the “hijab decree” and spreading alleged “immorality”.
A reliable UN source told Hasht-e Subh Monday that the detainees are the staff of immigration, children, and women organizations related to the UN.
The source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that Taliban rebels arrested these female employees early this morning in front of their office and brutally beat their driver.
According to this source, these women were imprisoned by the Taliban for several hours.
It is reported that the Taliban told these female staff that they were arrested for “not observing hijab at the office” and spreading “immorality” in the society.
According to reports, the Taliban fighters have already arrested a number of women in Kandahar for alleged allegations.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to work
- HRD
- NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 18, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jun 12, 2022
- Event Description
Reliable sources confirm that Abdul Hanan Mohammadi, a journalist for Pajhwok news agency, who has been in Taliban custody for almost three months, is being tortured every day.
A source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Hasht-e Subh on Thursday that Mohammadi is being brutally tortured by Taliban intelligence in Kapisa prison daily.
According to the source, the Taliban rebels took this journalist to the 40 Intelligence Directorate in Kabul on Thursday.
The Taliban arrested Mohammadi while preparing a report on June 12th this year.
Since then, the institutions supporting journalists could not figure out to get him out of the Taliban prison.
The Taliban have not yet provided details on the motive behind his arrest.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 11, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 8, 2022
- Event Description
Local sources in Khost province report that the Taliban have arrested Marjan Hasand, one of the civil activists in this province.
According to sources, he was arrested by the Taliban intelligence members on Thursday this week.
So far, the motive behind Hasand’s arrest is not clear, and Taliban members have not provided details on his arrest.
A source however said that this civil activist praised the reopening of girls’ schools in Paktia province the previous day on his Facebook page and asked the people of Khost province to open the doors of girls’ schools. The source said this might be the motive behind his detention.
Hasand was reportedly involved in the media in the former government and after the beginning of Taliban rule, he turned to freelance work.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 11, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Aug 15, 2022
- Event Description
Taliban authorities must investigate the beating and harassment of journalist Saboor Raufi and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.
On Monday, August 15, two armed Taliban members beat Raufi, an anchor and reporter with Afghanistan’s independent Ariana News TV station, while he was recording the aftermath of an explosion in front of Ariana’s headquarters in the Bayat Media Center in the capital of Kabul, according to media reports and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ by phone.
The men confiscated the mobile phone Raufi was using to film the incident and one of the men slapped him in the face, causing his mouth to bleed. Raufi told CPJ that he had identified himself as a journalist and shown his press ID card when one of the men beat him for several minutes with a rifle, on his head, shoulder, back, and legs.
The beating continued until a Taliban commander in the area to investigate the explosion ordered the men to take Raufi to a hospital for medical treatment. Raufi said the beating has left him with two scars on his head, an injured right shoulder, limited mobility in his right hand, and injuries to his back and knee that have made him barely able to walk.
“The brutal attack on Afghan journalist Saboor Raufi, and the threats against him for talking about the attack, highlight the dangers faced by Afghan journalists in the year since the Taliban took back control of the country,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna. “Taliban leaders must investigate this attack, hold its perpetrators responsible, and keep its promise to respect press freedom.”
Raufi told CPJ that on the night of the beating, after he had responded to other journalists’ questions about the incident, he received a call from an unknown number. The caller warned him that he and his family’s lives would be in danger if he didn’t stop talking to the media about the beating and accused him of being a “disrespectful Pashtun who propagates against the Pashtun government.” Rafui replied that he is a journalist and had reported the Taliban aggression against him in that capacity.
Raufi, who has worked for 13 years as a presenter, news anchor, and reporter for Ariana News and Ariana Television Network, says he fears for his life and hasn’t been able to return to his job.
CPJ contacted Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesperson, for comment via messaging app but did not receive any response.
CPJ’s reporting on Afghanistan’s media crisis has documented the pressure placed on journalists and news outlets like Ariana since the Taliban takeover in August 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 22, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Aug 17, 2022
- Event Description
Taliban authorities must immediately release American journalist and independent filmmaker Ivor Shearer and Afghan producer Faizullah Faizbakhsh, and cease detaining journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.
On August 17, Shearer and Faizbakhsh were filming in the Sherpur area of District 10 in Kabul–where a U.S. drone strike killed Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri earlier in August–when several security guards stopped them, according to a report by U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Voice of America-Dari and two journalists familiar with the case, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of the Taliban’s reprisal. The guards questioned them about their activities and checked their work permits, ID cards, and passports; they then confiscated the journalists’ cellphones, detained them for a couple of hours, and repeatedly called them “American spies,” according to the journalists familiar with the case.
The security officers then called Taliban intelligence; around 50 armed intelligence operatives arrived, who blindfolded Shearer and Faizbakhsh and transferred them to an unknown location, the journalists familiar with the case said.
CPJ was not able to verify the reason for the detention of Shearer and Faizbakhsh or where they were being held.
“The Taliban’s increasing pressure and escalating numbers of detentions of journalists and media workers, including the detention of American filmmaker Ivor Shearer and his Afghan colleague Faizullah Faizbakhsh, show the group’s utter lack of commitment to the principle of freedom of the press in Afghanistan,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna. “Taliban officials must immediately release Shearer and Faizbakhsh and stop their intimidation and pressure on the press in Afghanistan.”
In February 2022, Shearer arrived in Afghanistan on a one-month visa after receiving a work permit from the Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs to produce a documentary about the last 40 years of Afghanistan’s history, according to the journalists familiar with the case. Shearer’s film and video work has been shown across the U.S. and internationally in museums and film festivals.
Faizbakhsh works as a producer supporting international journalists in Afghanistan and was contracted by Shearer, according to the journalists familiar with the case.
On March 3, Shearer was issued a one-year work permit by the Taliban’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and was able to extend his visa to stay until September.
In mid-June, Shearer was summoned to the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi questioned and asked him to present his past work, one of the journalists familiar with the case told CPJ. According to that source, Shearer was told that he was summoned because Taliban intelligence was suspicious of his presence in Kabul.
In mid-July, several Taliban intelligence agents visited a guest house where Shearer was staying in Kabul and questioned him about his work and stay, according to a journalist familiar with the case, who added that Shearer didn’t know if the visit was routine or if he was targeted because of his presence.
On August 16, Balkhi again summoned Shearer, a journalist familiar with the case told CPJ. Shearer told the source that he was concerned about the summons and didn’t know if the Taliban would extend his visa beyond September or expel him from the country. CPJ was unable to confirm further details about the August 16 meeting.
CPJ contacted Balkhi and Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid for comment via messaging app but did not receive a response.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 22, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jul 20, 2022
- Event Description
Taliban authorities must investigate the beating and harassment of journalist Selgay Ehsas, hold those responsible to account, and allow female journalists to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.
On July 20, several men armed with rifles approached Ehsas, a sports presenter with the independent broadcaster Radio Dost, while she was walking home in the Bala Bagh area of Surkh Rod district, in eastern Nangarhar province, according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ by phone.
The men fired a gun into the air and identified themselves as “Mujahedin,” or members of the Taliban, Ehsas said, adding that the gunshot startled her and made her drop her phone. When she went to pick up the phone, one of the men hit her on the back of the head with a heavy object that she believed was a gun, she said. Before she fell unconscious, she heard one of the men saying the attack was because she did not “sit at home despite their warnings,” according to the journalist and that report.
Locals took Ehsas, unconscious, to a clinic and later to the Fetame Zahra Public Hospital, where she received treatment for a bruised back, head pain, and dizziness, she told CPJ. She said that no items were stolen from her, and she believed the attack was reprisal for her work as a female journalist.
After the attack, Ehsas recorded an audio message describing the incident and questioning whether the Taliban supported attacks on women; she told CPJ that she shared that recording with a friend, and that it was subsequently shared on social media. Ehsas said she did not know who shared the clip online.
On July 23, after that recording was published online, Taliban members detained Ehsas’ father and uncle, and appeared at the journalist’s home, asking why she had insulted the group and questioned their authority. Under pressure from the Taliban members and her relatives, who said they feared Ehsas’ journalism put them in danger, Ehsas recorded a video message, reading from a script written by the Taliban members, that denied the group was involved in attacking her. The Taliban members then released her father and uncle, she said.
After that video message was published online, Ehsas and her family received threats from Taliban members, prompting them to go into hiding, the journalist told CPJ, saying that she feared for her life.
“Almost one year since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, the cycle of threats, beatings, and intimidation of journalists continues at an alarming pace,” said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director, from Madrid. “The brutal attack on Afghan journalist Selgay Ehsas, followed by Taliban members forcing her to record a video allegedly absolving the group, shows that members of the press face giant hurdles working under Taliban rule.”
On July 24, the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency said the July 20 attack on Ehsas stemmed from a personal conflict, and also published her video message, according to media reports.
In 2020 and 2021, Ehsas said she received many death threats while working as a presenter for the Nangarhar-based broadcaster Enikass Radio and TV, and in 2021, an improvised explosive device was attached to Ehsas’ family vehicle and injured several of her relatives. Ehsas was not in the car and believed the attack was retaliation for her journalism because it came shortly after the deaths of four female employees at Enikass.
The Taliban targeted Enikass because the outlet promoted freedom of speech and employed female journalists, according to an interview with the broadcaster’s owner and director, Engineer Zalmai Latifi, published by the local Subhe Kabul newspaper.
Ehsas said she received so many threats that she left Enikass in early 2021 and worked as a reporter for the independent broadcaster Shamshad TV in Kabul for five months, where she continued to receive threats, before taking a job at Radio Dost.
CPJ contacted Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesperson, for comment via messaging app but did not receive any response.
Ehsas’ assault is the first physical attack on a female journalist that CPJ has documented since the Taliban takeover in August 2021.
CPJ is also investigating the detention and release of journalist Aluddin Erkin in northern Faryab province.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 15, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Aug 4, 2022
- Event Description
Almost 24 hours after WION correspondent Anas Mallick was released by the Taliban in Afghanistan, the rest of his crew, hired locally and abducted along with him, were released by the militant organisation on Saturday. They were kept in detention for nearly two days and bear wounds and bruises that show both were assaulted.
The crew members—Zakariya, who is the local producer and Mayel Kharoti, the driver—were released by the Taliban after a 42-hour ordeal.
The pictures that have come to the fore illustrate the cruelty which they were subjected to, a clear sign that Taliban 2.0 is no different from the previous regime of the militant group.
The group was detained on Thursday while taking generic visuals of Kabul. Their assignment was to cover the Taliban takeover anniversary but it also came around the time of the killing of Ayman al Zawahiri, the al Qaeda terror group chief, in a US missile strike. Anas has also reported from near the house where he was killed.
The crew have been instructed by the Taliban authorities to be present when summoned in future.
These two Afghans were hired to help Anas with the coverage.
Since their abduction, WION had made all-out efforts seeking their release, which eventually succeeded.
But it appears that the Taliban are threatened by our ground reporting in Kabul as WION's reporter was abducted while he was reporting, with all the necessary permissions.
On Friday, only Anas was allowed to walk free, whereas the local producer and the driver were kept in captivity by the Taliban. They had said that they will be releasing them soon.
Here's what exactly happened to him:
Anas says...
"We were duly accredited, we had all the press credentials and were filming general visuals when we were intercepted, taken out of the car... dragged off the car to be very precise. Our phones were taken away.
And then we were physically assaulted. My crew was assaulted and I was assaulted as well.
After some while, we were shifted from the place where were intercepted to what we know is the intelligence unit of the Afghan-Taliban. We were handcuffed, blindfolded, and faced the wildest accusations and after that were questioned thoroughly on our journalistic credentials as well. Personal questions were also hurled at us."
Anas is WION's reporter based out in Pakistan's capital. Anas has been reporting on Afghanistan developments for nearly five years for WION. He has done some exclusive, on-the-ground coverage when the Taliban took over Kabul last year.
Expressing his anger, Anas said that it's something you would never expect for an accredited journalist, for an international journalist for somebody who has been known to the Taliban as well.
He said, "We were the only Indian network in Kabul at the time of the fall of Kabul. And we were there three months post-takeover. I was literally at all the press conferences, at all the press briefings and despite all of this, it happened so it was a very bad dream."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 15, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Aug 13, 2022
- Event Description
Security forces in Kabul fired shots into the air and beat women protesting Taliban rule Saturday as dozens demanded the right to education, work and political participation on the eve of the first anniversary of the Islamist group’s takeover of Afghanistan.
Rally participants chanted “we want work, bread, and freedom” as they marched toward the Education Ministry in the Afghan capital before Taliban forces responded violently to the rare anti-government rally.
“August 15 is a black day,” read a banner protesters were carrying as they demanded the right to work and political participation, chanting "Justice, justice.”
Witness accounts and social media documented many women at the rally not wearing face veils.
Some of the female protesters who took refuge in nearby shops were chased and beaten by security forces with their rifle butts, witnesses said.
Heavy gunfire could be heard in social media video of the rally, with Taliban men assaulting female protesters. They also violently prevented Afghan journalists from covering the rally.
Amnesty international expressed concern on Twitter about reported use of “excessive force” by the Taliban to disperse women who were protesting peacefully. Taliban officials did not immediately comment on the allegations.
The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan last August 15 from the internationally backed Afghan government as U.S.-led and NATO allies withdrew their troops from the country after almost 20 years of war with the Taliban.
The hardline group’s all-male interim government in Kabul has since significantly rolled back women’s rights to work and education, barring most teenage girls from resuming secondary school in a breach of promises the Taliban made to respect rights of all Afghans.
Women employed in the public sector have been told to stay at home, except for those who work for the ministries of education, health and a few others, and must use face coverings in public.
They have also banned women from traveling alone on long trips and require them to fully cover themselves, including their faces, in public.
The restrictions angered female activists and they initially staged small demonstrations against them, but the Taliban used violence and detained organizers, effectively deterring such rallies for months.
The Taliban defend their policies as being in line with Afghan culture and Shariah or Islamic law.
Sources said on Saturday (August 13th) that more than 10 journalists and their colleagues who wanted to cover the women’s protest against the Taliban in Kabul were arrested.
Tuba Walizada, a TOLO News reporter, is also among those arrested.
Foreign journalists were also present among the detained journalists.
The Taliban have released foreign journalists, but have transferred other journalists to an unknown location. The Taliban have not said anything about this news.
This morning, a number of women’s rights defenders in Kabul protested over the situation of girls’ schools, which ended after the Taliban fired in the air to disperse the protestors.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 15, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jun 23, 2022
- Event Description
Sources in Balkh province have reported that the Taliban arrested Mohammad Saber Bator, head of Hamnawa Social Organization in Balkh, along with four others from Sholgara district of this province Thursday last week, and took them to an unknown place.
Relatives of Bator have confirmed that the Taliban raided his residence on Thursday last week. According to them, the Taliban first beat Bator and then took away his brother, one of his relatives, and two of his guest with him.
Bator’s family says there is no news about his fate and his companions so far.
Saber Bator had gone to Iran after the fall of the former government, and had returned home about two months ago, his relatives said.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping, Raid, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 4, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- May 4, 2022
- Event Description
On May 4, the Taliban prosecutor’s office in Faryab province detained and questioned Firoz Ghafori, Mosamem, and Olugh Beig Ghafori for about three hours, and then released them on bail after charging them with criminal insult, according to media reports and Firoz Ghafori, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview.
The charges stem from the journalists’ 2019 and 2020 reporting on corruption allegations involving a government official who remained in power following the Taliban takeover, Ghafori said.
“Taliban leaders must take action to prevent their members from attacking journalists like Reza Shahir, and must immediately drop the spurious charges against three journalists in Faryab province over an old corruption case,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “The detentions, beatings, and harassment of media workers has continued to rise in Afghanistan under the Taliban, which indicates a worrisome trend for press freedom.”
Shahir told CPJ that the Taliban fighters beat him after they searched his mobile phone and found screenshots of media reports about his April detention and beating. He said the men cursed at him and accused him of being a spy and working for foreign governments.
Shahir said he sustained light injuries from the attack and did not need to go to a hospital.
Officers with the Faryab Police Criminal Investigation Directorate first questioned Firoz Ghafori, a representative of the Afghanistan Journalist Safety Committee in Faryab and a production manager with the local broadcaster Tamana Radio; Mosamim, a former journalist who worked on corruption reporting with Firoz Ghafori; and Olugh Beig Ghafori, a freelance journalist; about their reporting on April 28, according to Firoz Ghafori. He said authorities then summoned them again on May 4, when the provincial prosecutor’s office filed the insult charge.
Ghafori told CPJ that he did not know the exact penalty the journalists could face if convicted, but feared they could face prison time. He said that no court date had been set.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment sent via messaging app.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 11, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- May 29, 2022
- Event Description
Once again, a number of women poured onto the streets of Kabul to protest against the closure of girls’ schools in the country. Unfortunately, the march was violently stopped by the Taliban fighters.
On Sunday, May 29, 2022, the protesting women held a protest rally over the growing rate of poverty, unemployment crisis, and the closure of girls’ schools in the 2nd district of Kabul.
According to protestors, instead of thinking about solving the problems of the people and finding a solution to poverty and unemployment, the Taliban senior members use all their power and energies to restrict women and interfere in the most private affairs of the citizens.
Unfortunately, the Taliban rebels suppressed the protest and forced the women to return back home.
The protesters have called on the world to pressurize the Taliban so that they may recognize women’s rights and work hard in order to reduce poverty and unemployment in the country.
Chanting “Bread, work, freedom,” some two dozen women took to the streets of the Afghan capital of Kabul on May 29 to protest against the Taliban's harsh restrictions on their rights.
The Taliban has rolled back women’s rights since returning to power in August 2021. Girls have been banned from school beyond the sixth grade in most of Afghanistan. In March, the Taliban ordered girls' high schools closed on the morning they were scheduled to open.
"Education is my right! Reopen schools!" chanted the protesters, many of them wearing face-covering veils, as they gathered in front of the Education Ministry.
Demonstrators marched for a few hundred meters before ending the rally as authorities deployed Taliban fighters in plainclothes, an AFP correspondent reported.
"We wanted to read out a declaration, but the Taliban didn't allow it," said protester Zholia Parsi.
"They took the mobile phones off some girls and also prevented us from taking photos or videos of our protest," she told the French news agency.
Since taking power in the wake of the withdrawal of international troops from the war-torn country, the Taliban has pledged to rule differently than during its brutal regime of the 1990s that saw women confined to their homes, most entertainment banned, and punishments including stoning and public executions.
But its promises are being treated with skepticism by many Afghans and governments around the world, especially since women have been forced from some government jobs and barred from traveling alone.
This month, Afghanistan's supreme leader and Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada ordered women to cover up fully in public, including their faces.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Women's rights
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 4, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- May 24, 2022
- Event Description
On May 24, Mirza Hassani, the former owner and editor of Radio Aftab, was detained by Taliban agents at a checkpoint in District 12 of Herat city. Radio Aftab is a local station in the Daikundi province that was shutdown following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021.
Hassani was transferred to the 12th Directorate of the Taliban’s GDI in Herat after agents searched his phone and found news reports posted on his social media. The journalist has reportedly been beaten and tortured while in custody and is accused of working as a reporter for the anti-Taliban militant group, National Resistance Front (NRF), but has not been officially charged. Hassani’s family and the Herat’s Scholars Council called for his immediate release.
Sources in Daikundi province have confirmed that the Taliban have arrested the owner of Aftab Radio Station in Herat province, which is an active radio station in Daikundi.
According to sources, Mirza Hassani, the owner of Aftab Radio and the head of the network of civil society organizations in Daikundi has been detained and severely tortured by the Taliban in Herat province.
He has been in the Taliban’s custody for the last couple of days. Hassani’s family members and Herat Scholars Council have been trying to release him, but they have failed.
The promotion of freedom of speech is one of the major achievements that the international community has been proud of for the last 20 years. Millions of funds were invested in this sector, but with the rise of the Taliban in power, many achievements of the last 20 years are on the edge of dismissal and demolition by the Taliban. Freedom of speech promotion has been one of those achievements.
Taliban do not care about any value that is important to human social development. Any values that are not aligned with their extremist ideology or that can cause a barrier to their biased religious ideologies deserve to be demolished and removed.
Since the Taliban has returned to power, the group has arbitrarily arrested many journalists, media activists, and civil society members. In addition, the rebels have imposed strict restrictions on media outlets, censoring the content of the media and directly threatening any violator of their rules.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Torture, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 4, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- May 29, 2022
- Event Description
On May 29, journalist Roman Karimi and his driver, Samiullah, were detained and beaten by a Taliban intelligence agent while covering a women’s protest at the Haji Yaqub roundabout in Kabul District 10 for Salam Watandar radio station.
Despite showing his journalist identification card, the agent forced Karimi inside a traffic booth and questioned him. Other officers took the journalists’ voice recorder and phone, and reviewed the phone’s content, including his social media accounts. When Karimi tried to protest the removal of his personal devices the agent slapped his face.
Karimi and his driver were both detained for seven hours and were eventually released at 5pm on the condition that they would no longer cover protest events.
Arbitrary detainments, arrests and attacks on media workers have continued to increase since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 2021. In the latest South Asia Press Freedom report, the IFJ documented 75 media rights violations, including 12 killings and 30 arrests, in Afghanistan from May 2021 to April 2022.An estimated 1,000 journalists have fled the country since last August, with threats, harsh restrictions and economic collapse leading to mass closures of media outlets.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 4, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Apr 25, 2022
- Event Description
Taliban authorities must investigate the arbitrary detention, questioning, and intimidation of Afghan journalist Jebran Lawrand and allow local press members to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.
On April 25, Lawrand, a political programs manager and presenter at the independent Kabul News TV station, was summoned to the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI), where he was detained, cursed at, and questioned for over two hours, according to the journalist, who posted about the incident on Facebook and talked to CPJ by phone, two activists with knowledge of the case who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity for fear of Taliban reprisal, news reports, and tweets by a former government official.
The activists told CPJ that the Taliban intelligence agents warned Lawrand that his TV shows shouldn’t criticize the Taliban and that he must not invite critical analysts to appear. The agents also reportedly warned that no one should know about the journalist’s detention and questioning or he would face graver consequences and called him an infidel, evil, atheist, and pig before releasing him.
“Taliban authorities must tell its General Directorate of Intelligence to stop detaining and using intimidation tactics against journalists like Jebran Lawrand,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “The Taliban needs to return to their original commitment to tolerate an independent media and must learn to accept criticism without taking retaliatory action.”
Lawrand was summoned and detained a day after a Facebook post about his April 24, 2022 show, during which he disagreed with a Taliban supporter.
The journalist and the activists told CPJ that on April 25, while Lawrand was on his way home, several Taliban intelligence operatives from the counter-terrorism directorate told him that he wouldn’t face any further detention because of the April 24 show but could face future arrest or imprisonment if he continued to report the way he did.
On April 27, Lawrand resigned from his job after 15 years as a journalist and has been in hiding since his detention, according to the activists. The activists said he continues to receive anonymous threats from unknown telephone numbers.
CPJ contacted Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesperson, for comment via messaging app but did not receive any response. CPJ has documented the increasingly prominent role of the GDI in controlling news media and intimidating journalists in Afghanistan.
CPJ is also investigating the alleged expulsion of Marjan Wafa, the only female journalist in Herat city, from a press conference by local Taliban officials on May 20, 2022.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 28, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- May 26, 2022
- Event Description
A group of women have staged a protest in Kabul against the continued closure of schools for girls above the sixth grade as a senior UN official has warned the Taliban's restrictions on women's rights are aimed at making women "invisible."
Girls have been banned from school beyond the sixth grade in most of Afghanistan since the Taliban's return to power in August 2021. In March, the Taliban ordered girls' high schools closed the morning they were scheduled to open.
The May 26 protest saw about 20 women and girls marched to the gate of Kabul's Maryam High School while calling on the Taliban to reopen schools.
"You took my bread and work, and I can't study," they shouted.
Some witnesses said that about 10 minutes into the protest, Taliban militants came and dispersed the women, firing shots into the air. One of the protesters told RFE/RL that three women were temporarily detained and then released after the Taliban verified their mobile phones.
Azir Ahmad Takour, a spokesman for he Taliban Interior Ministry, denied that the protest had been dispersed.
"This absolutely is propaganda. We have not stopped anyone from protesting today," he said.
Since taking power in the wake of the withdrawal of international troops from the war-torn country, the Taliban has pledged to rule differently than during its brutal regime of the 1990s that saw women confined to their homes, most entertainment banned, and punishments including stoning and public executions.
But its promises are being treated with skepticism by many Afghans and governments around the world, including Central Asia, especially since women have been forced from some government jobs and barred from traveling alone.
This month, Afghanistan's supreme leader and Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada ordered women to cover up fully in public, including their faces.
The restrictions show a "pattern of absolute gender segregation and are aimed at making women invisible in the society," Richard Bennett, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, told reporters during a visit to Kabul on May 26.
"The de facto authorities have failed to acknowledge the magnitude and gravity of the abuses being committed, many of them in their name," Bennett said.
- Impact of Event
- 20
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest, Women's rights
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 28, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- May 10, 2022
- Event Description
Several dozen women's rights activists have protested a Taliban order making it mandatory for women to wear the all-covering burqa, including face veils, when they are in public.
The women marched through the streets of the capital, Kabul, on May 10 holding signs calling for justice despite intimidation attempts by Taliban operatives, who threatened them with violence.
"We were faced with harsh behavior by the Taliban. It was terrifying...They even told us if we move one step forward, they will fire 30 rounds at us," one women said in a video made by the group, called Afghanistan's Powerful Women's Movement.
The decree, announced on May 7, calls for women to only show their eyes and recommends they wear the head-to-toe burqa. Head scarves are common for most Afghan women, but in urban areas such as Kabul, many do not cover their faces.
Failure to comply will result in a woman's father or closest male relative being reprimanded, imprisoned, or fired from employment.
It immediately sparked criticism from many Afghans and the international community amid an outcry over the erosion of human rights in the country, especially for women and girls.
"Under the latest draconian decree, Afghan women are ordered to follow full veil and avoid unnecessary movement. This violates fundamental human rights of women to chose what to wear & move freely," Amnesty International's South Asia department said in a tweet a day after the measures were announced.
"Despite continued assurance of Taliban de-facto authorities that they respect women & girls rights, millions of women & girls are exposed to systematic gender based discrimination," it added.
The UN Security Council will meet on May 12 to discuss the order.
Deborah Lyons, UN special envoy for Afghanistan, is to brief the 15-member council, according to Norway's UN mission, which requested the closed-door meeting "to address the increased restrictions on human rights and freedoms of girls and women."
Girls have been banned from school beyond the sixth grade in most of the country since the Taliban’s return last August. In March, the Taliban ordered girls' high schools closed on the morning they were scheduled to open.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest, Women's rights
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 17, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Apr 27, 2022
- Event Description
A court in Afghanistan has sentenced a journalist to one year in prison on charges that free press advocates say included criticism of the Taliban government in his social media posts and "espionage." A Taliban spokesman said he was sentenced for “criminal misconduct.”
Khalid Qaderi, a poet and reporter with Radio Nowruz in the western Afghan city of Herat, has been in custody since his arrest in mid-March. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) alleged in a statement issued Thursday that he was tried and sentenced last week by a Taliban military court, something the Taliban denied.
The IFJ said the young Afghan journalist was accused of posting content critical of the Taliban, including his radio broadcasts, on Facebook. It quoted Qaderi telling the court, "I realized my errors, and I deleted the posts from my Facebook page."
The IFJ denounced what it said was "the arbitrary sentencing" and urged the Islamist Taliban to cease their persecution of journalists for their independent reportage. This would be the first reported case of a journalist being tried by a military court since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan last August.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on Thursday confirmed the sentencing of the journalist but insisted Qaderi's arrest had nothing to do with his "journalistic work," nor was he tried by a military court.
Mujahid claimed while speaking to VOA’s Afghan Service that a "civil" court in Herat had imposed the sentence on Qaderi for "criminal misconduct." The spokesman did not elaborate.
"Under Taliban rule," the IFJ said, “Afghan journalists have continued to face draconian restrictions, threats to freedom and arbitrary arrests.” The group called for the Taliban to immediately release the journalist from prison.
The Taliban insist they support media activities in Afghanistan within the law, but an estimated 1,000 journalists have fled the country since the Islamist group returned to power almost nine months ago, citing threats, harsh restrictions on media and economic upheavals.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said in a report issued Thursday that the Taliban continue to persecute religious minorities and punish Afghans in accordance with the group's extreme interpretation of Islamic law or Sharia.
"The Taliban takeover and U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 led to a mass exodus, heightened by a violent crackdown on civil society, targeted killings, beatings and detentions, severe restrictions on women's rights, diminished local media presence, and an increase in violent, targeted attacks claimed by Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K)," the U.S. government entity said.
The USCIRF monitors the conditions of refugees who have fled severe violations of religious freedom and the U.S. government's policy responses.
Women's rights
Last week, the Taliban government decreed that women must fully cover their faces and bodies when in public, ideally with the traditional all-covering burqa, in one of the harshest restrictions the Islamist group has imposed on Afghan women since seizing power.
The edict advised women to leave their homes only in cases of necessity and warned that violations could lead to the punishment of their male relatives. The move drew widespread international condemnation and demands for its reversal.
The Taliban defended the female dress code, saying it is in line with Islamic and Afghan traditions. The group also has not yet allowed secondary schoolgirls to resume classes, ignoring domestic and international demands to lift the ban.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said Thursday that its chief, Deborah Lyons, in a series of meetings with Taliban leaders this week, called on them to respect and ensure women's fundamental rights.
"The international community's ability to engage with the Taliban as credible actors requires them to make good on commitments for all girls to return to school, as well as to ensure women can work, access basic services and have free movement without impediments," UNAMA wrote on Twitter.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 17, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Apr 19, 2022
- Event Description
The Taliban must immediately investigate the detention and beating of Afghan journalist Reza Shahir, return his equipment, and cease harassing journalists for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.
On Tuesday, April 19, armed Taliban members stopped Shahir, a reporter for the independent TV station Rahe Farda, while he was covering a suicide attack at a school in western Kabul, and proceeded to beat and detain him, according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview.
Shahir told CPJ that he reached the scene of the explosion before authorities, and when Taliban forces arrived at the scene, two members confiscated his camera and cellphone, punched him in the head and arms, beat him on the feet with their guns, and blindfolded him and took him away from the attack site.
They held Shahir for about three hours and accused him of being connected to the attack, and then released him without charge. After his release, Shahir asked Taliban officials at the Kabul police headquarters to return his equipment and said they refused, saying they would assess the content recorded at scene of the explosion.
“The Taliban must cease its routine arbitrary detention, abuse, and harassment of Afghan journalists,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “A lack of safety and growing unpredictability for journalists has become a sad trademark of Afghanistan under Taliban rule. If authorities want to show that they care about the media, they must investigate the recent harassment of journalist Reza Shahir, return his equipment, and hold those responsible to account.”
Shahir sustained light injuries to his feet during the beating, he told CPJ, adding that he did not know the location where he was held and questioned.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment sent via messaging app.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 2, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Apr 2, 2022
- Event Description
Local sources in Bamiyan province have confirmed that the Taliban insurgents have arrested 11 women accused of disrupting the support program arranged by the Taliban in the center of the province. The women were arrested on Saturday, April 2.
The sources told Hasht-e Subh that three of the arrested women are charged with taking down the banners and eight others are arrested on charges of disrupting the program.
Initially, the Taliban militants did not accept the claim, but later in another statement by the local Taliban, they have accepted the claim.
Last week, the Taliban rebels had arranged a program to show on the screen women supporting their de facto government. But the scenario changed as the women figured out the motive behind the program and demanded the reopening of schools’ doors to girls.
The women left the program by tearing down the banners and shouting against the Taliban’s policies and ideologies.
Since the Taliban have regained power in August 2021, they have been using women as the weak point of the international community to gain political negotiation power, but they have failed.
It is for 200 days since the Taliban have closed the education doors to girls. The rebels had promised to reopen the education doors to girls in spring 1401 (the beginning of the school year in Afghanistan). In contrast, they have backtracked on their commitment in the very last minutes arguing that girls’ uniforms are not aligned with Islamic values, saying that education doors to girls would remain closed until a plan is drawn up in accordance with Islamic law for them to reopen.
Bamiyan is a wonderland with a magical landscape that has housed the great statues of Buddhas. The province used to be one of the supporters of democracy for the last 20 years with zero cases of insurgency. But with the rise of the Taliban, the province has now lost the image of being a sample of democracy and civilization.
- Impact of Event
- 11
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 14, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Mar 26, 2022
- Event Description
The Taliban must cease detaining journalists for their work and lift all bans on news outlets’ operations, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.
Since Saturday, March 26, Taliban forces have detained and then released at least seven journalists and media workers, and have ordered local outlets to stop airing content from three international broadcasters, according to news reports and people who spoke with CPJ.
“The Taliban must immediately release all the journalists who remain in their custody, and stop detaining members of the press once and for all,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “Such arbitrary detentions and recent bans on programming by several major international outlets are destroying the once-thriving media sector of the country and depriving the Afghan people of access to essential information.”
On Saturday, Taliban forces in Kandahar detained the independent local broadcaster Zema Radio’s director, Mirwais Atal, after raiding his home, according to media reports and the Afghanistan Journalists Center press freedom group. Authorities held Atal for about 15 hours before bringing him back to his home to retrieve his phone; they then transferred him to an undisclosed location, according to those sources.
At a meeting with local media executives the following day, the deputy director for media and public affairs at the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence, Jawad Sargar, said that Atal was detained due to his “feministic viewpoints,” according to two senior media executives who attended that meeting and spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity.
Prior to his arrest, Atal had published commentary on his personal Facebook page, where he has about 5,660 followers, praising local protests by female students against Taliban orders to close girls’ schools.
On Monday evening, the AJC reported that Atal had been released from custody.
Also on Saturday, Taliban intelligence agents in Kabul’s District One detained Sarwar Hashemi, a journalist with the independent local broadcaster Salam Watandar, while he was covering a protest against the school closures, according to Salam Watandar and the AJC.
Authorities interrogated Hashemi for about six hours and then released him without charge, according to those sources.
During the Sunday meeting with local media executives at the Kandahar General Directorate of Intelligence office, Sargar ordered all major local broadcasters to cease airing music and entertainment live shows, as well as any programming that he claimed was against national and Islamic values, according to the two executives who spoke to CPJ.
Those executives said that Sargar gave them a two-hour deadline to comply, but the executives refused and demanded a written directive from the Taliban senior leaders or ministries.
On Monday, Taliban intelligence agents raided the Kandahar-based independent radio station Millat Zhagh and detained news manager Farid Alizai, producer Rahimullah Noori, and technical chief Mahmood Mehraban, and shut down the outlet and sealed its office, according to the AJC and a senior executive with the outlet, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation by the Taliban.
Authorities accused the three of failing to abide by Sargar’s ultimatum, according to those sources. On Monday evening, the journalists were released, according to a report by the AJC.
In additional raids on Monday to enforce Sargar’s order, Taliban intelligence agents in Kandahar also detained three other employees of independent local broadcasters: Sanga Radio manager Agha Sher Menar, Zema Radio administrative manager Waris Noori, and Radio Tabassum producer Samiullah Wahdat, according to the AJC and media reports which CPJ reviewed but have since been taken down.
Authorities held the three for several hours and then released them on bail, after forcing them to sign letters vowing to abide by the Taliban’s directives, Kandahar Press Club director Jawed Tanwir told CPJ via messaging app.
Separately, Taliban authorities on Sunday barred local broadcasters from airing Pashto, Persian, and Uzbek programming from British public broadcaster the BBC, the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Voice of America, and German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle, according to media reports and statements from the BBC, VOA, and DW.
The Shamshad, Ariana, and Arezo broadcasters have aired programming from the BBC, while TOLOnews has aired VOA programming, and Shamshad, Ariana, and TOLOnews have aired programming from DW, according to those reports.
The latest attacks on press freedom in Afghanistan coincide with a reported effort by Taliban leaders to turn back the clock to the repressive policies of the 1990s.
CPJ contacted Sargar for comment via messaging app, but did not receive any response. CPJ has documented the increasingly prominent role of the General Directorate of Intelligence in controlling news media and intimidating journalists in Afghanistan.
CPJ is also investigating reports that the Taliban had detained Radio Nawroz journalist and poet Khalid Qaderi; CPJ was unable to immediately determine if he was being held for his work as a journalist.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 3, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Feb 13, 2022
- Event Description
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.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to work
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 14, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Mar 4, 2022
- Event Description
Sayed Baqir Mohseni, a political analyst and critic of the Taliban, who was detained by the group two days ago has been released, local media citing the sources reported.
Sayed Baqir Mohseni, a political analyst and critic of the Taliban, who was detained by the group two days ago has been released, local media citing the sources reported.
According to local media, Mohseni's relatives claimed that he has been released from the Taliban intelligence agency's custody. Mohseni disappeared on Friday. However, Taliban security has not yet commented on the incident.
As soon as the news of Sayed's disappearance went out, a number of social media users have called for the release of Mohseni, a university professor and critic of the Taliban. They called him the voice of Afghanistan.
During a TV interview, Mohseni blamed the Taliban for insecurity, corruption and waste of resources in Afghanistan over the past 20 years.
In a video message posted on Facebook, Mohseni said there was no prove of “suspected issues” and that doubtful matters were resolved through talk.
The Islamic Emirate cannot be reached for comment.
Mr. Mohseni is a university lecturer and an outspoken critic of the Islamic Emirate and other governments been before.
His arrest has sparked widespread reactions from rights groups and social media users in and outside the country.
Following his arrest, hashtags went viral on social media, calling for his release.
There were also reports of the arrest of a freelance journalist and a woman named Nadima, who had returned from Canada to Afghanistan.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Academic
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 14, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Feb 1, 2022
- Event Description
The Taliban must immediately investigate the detention and abuse in custody of journalist Abdul Qayum Zahid Samadzai, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.
On Tuesday, February 1, a man who identified himself as a member of the Taliban’s Directorate General of Intelligence arrested Samadzai, a reporter with the independent Pakistan-based 92News Media Group, in District 2 of Kabul, the capital, according to Samadzai, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview and several tweets posted by local advocates and news outlets.
At the DGI’s District 2 office, Taliban intelligence agents interrogated Samadzai, beat him, and held him for about 36 hours before releasing him on bail, he said. Upon release, an agent ordered him to stop reporting until he received permission from the Taliban spokesperson’s office to resume.
“The Taliban must put an end to the arbitrary arrests and beatings of journalists like Zahid Samadzai and hold those responsible for such actions to account,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “Taliban intelligence operatives’ harassment of journalists is a grave threat to the remaining free media outlets operating in Afghanistan and needs to end.”
The DGI agent approached Samadzai while he was recording a report on the reopening of public universities, asked for his identity card, and after confirming his details, took him into custody in the agent’s car, where Samadzai was joined by other agents who began questioning him about his work, he said.
While in DGI custody, agents repeatedly interrogated him in freezing rooms, slapped him, accused him of spying for foreign countries, and pressured him to reveal the identities of other journalists who “spy” on the Taliban, according to Samadzai.
The agents checked the contents of his phone, asking about messages he had sent and his posts on social media, he said. Samadzai added that the agents also questioned him about his background, professional life, and contacts with other members of the press, particularly with female journalists, as well as his knowledge of recent protests led by Afghan female activists.
Samadzai told CPJ that he had recently covered talks between a Taliban delegation and Afghan civil society groups, including a woman representing recent protests led by female Afghans.
Ahmadullah Wasiq, a Taliban deputy spokesperson in Afghanistan, did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment sent via messaging app.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 23, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Feb 2, 2022
- Event Description
On 3 February 2022, woman human rights defender Zahra Mohammadi was abducted from her office in Kart-e-Parwan, in Kabul, and detained by the Taliban in an unknown location. On 2 February 2022, another woman human rights defender, Mursal Ayar, was similarly taken from her house in Kart-e-Naw district of Kabul. The woman human rights defender’s family reported that at least ten armed men, also believed to be the Taliban, entered their housephysically assaulting Mursal Ayar and then abducting her. These attacks come within two weeks of the abduction and subsequent disappearance of women human rights defender Tamana Zaryab Paryani, alongside her three sisters and woman human rights defender Parwana Ibrahimkhel, from their respective houses in Kabul. Zahra Mohammadi is a member of the Afghan Women’s Solidarity Team, which had organized an indoor protest to demand the release of Tamana Zaryab Paryani and Parwana Ibrahimkhel on 2 February 2022. A dentist by profession, she has been peacefully advocating for women’s rights to work and to education, since the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban in August 2021. Even in the face of violent suppression of human rights, freedom of expression and dissent, she participated in many peaceful protests in Kabul, demanding equal rights for women. Mursal Ayar is a woman human rights defender and a journalist working with CNN. She has also been advocating for women rights and has participated in several protests in Kabul. The women human rights defenders are facing reprisals for their peaceful resistance against the Taliban. At the recently held Oslo Summit, women representatives from Afghanistan had raised serious concerns regarding the deteriorating situation for women’s rights in the country and the grave reprisals faced by those who spoke out against the Taliban. They had also expressed outrage at the arrest and disappearance of Tamana Zaryab Paryani and Parwana Ibrahimkhel and had asked for their immediate release. On 23 January 2022, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid claimed that the Taliban have the right to arrest and detain dissidents. Since their takeover of Kabul in August 2021, the Taliban have engaged in serious human rights abuses including arrests, detention and torture of human rights defenders, conducting raids on civil society organizations, banning the rights of women to education and work, beating protestors, and reportedly torturing or killing activists, journalists, minorities, and former government officials. Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the abduction and subsequent disappearance of women human rights defenders Zahra Mohammadi and Mursal Ayar. It believes that the women human rights defenders are being attacked for defending the rights of women in Afghanistan and participating in peaceful protests against the Taliban. Front Line Defenders is also concerned about the continued disappearance of Parwana Ibrahimkhel, Tamana Zaryab Paryani and her three sisters, who were abducted from their homes on 19 January 2022.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 22, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jan 15, 2022
- Event Description
The Taliban should investigate the recent attack on journalist Zaki Qais and ensure that members of the press can live and work safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
At about 11 p.m. on January 15, two unidentified men knocked on Qais’ home in Kabul, the capital, introduced themselves as members of the local police, and attacked him, according to the journalist, who spoke to CPJ in an phone interview, and posts on Twitter by the local outlet Payk Media and the independent Afghanistan Journalists Center press freedom group.
When Qais opened the door, one of the men grabbed him and hit him in the head with an unidentified object, and the other, whose face was covered, tried to stab him in the neck with a knife, he told CPJ. Qais said he resisted and was able to close the door after sustaining cuts to his head.
Qais is the former director of the independent Khawar TV broadcaster, and is a documentarian who has worked on films about human rights in Afghanistan, he told CPJ.
“Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers must immediately launch an investigation to identify and bring to justice those who attacked journalist Zaki Qais,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “The Taliban’s continued silence on these repeated attacks on journalists undermines any remaining credibility of pledges to allow independent media to continue operating.”
Qais told CPJ that he did not know the identities of his attackers, but said he had been harassed repeatedly by authorities and Taliban supporters. He told CPJ that he had stopped working at Khawar TV shortly after the Taliban seized power in Kabul in mid-August 2021.
Shortly before the fall of Kabul, an unidentified person called Qais and told him to stop posting anti-Taliban news on his Facebook page, where he posted news and commentary on political issues to about 325,000 followers, he said.
On August 17, 2021, a group of armed men who introduced themselves as Taliban members arrived at Qais’ home and beat him for two hours, slapping his face and hitting him with a gun while saying that his work was “not journalism,” he said.
Separately, on September 26, Taliban members detained Qais while he filmed a women’s anti-Taliban protest in Kabul; he said authorities held him for about six hours and whipped him 20 times before releasing him.
Ahmadullah Wasiq, a Taliban deputy spokesperson in Afghanistan, did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment sent via messaging app.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 1, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jan 16, 2022
- Event Description
The Taliban’s violent crackdown on a women’s rights demonstration in Kabul last weekend marks an alarming and unlawful escalation of efforts to suppress peaceful protest and free speech in Afghanistan.
Human Rights Watch spoke with two protesters and a witness and reviewed video footage of the incident.
Armed Taliban members were already present when women gathered at a planned meeting place on January 16, reinforcing organizers’ fears that the authorities had infiltrated their communications. Some fled when they saw the Taliban, but about 25 women started marching to Kabul University as planned. Taliban members pointed firearms at the marchers, threatening and insulting them, calling them “puppets of the West” and “whores.” One protester said Taliban members also assaulted bystanders filming the protest and took their phones, which an AFP reporter confirmed.
As the protesters reached Kabul University, a larger Taliban group was waiting in pickup trucks and surrounded the women. Two protesters told Human Rights Watch that Taliban members used an electric device to shock one of them and other protesters. As the protesters tried to escape the Taliban encirclement, they were sprayed with a chemical substance such as pepper spray that caused severe irritation of their skin, eyes, and respiratory tract. A protester said she was still experiencing coughing and painful skin irritation 24 hours later. She said Taliban members hit her and physically assaulted other protesters. They followed some of the protesters as they began to make their way home.
Since taking over Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, the Taliban have rolled back the rights of women and girls, including blocking access to education and employment for many. Women’s rights activists have staged a series of protests; the Taliban has responded by banning unauthorized protests.
International human rights law protects the right of peaceful assembly and requires authorities at all levels to facilitate such assemblies and avoid unnecessary or disproportionate restrictions on them. International standards prohibit the use of unnecessary or excessive force against protesters. The United Nations “Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement” says that electrical weapons and chemical irritants should not be used in situations of purely passive resistance to orders from officials.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Vilification, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 1, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jan 19, 2022
- Event Description
The Taliban’s response to the apparent enforced disappearance of Tamana Paryani, Parwana Ibrahimkhel, and other women activists in Afghanistan has laid bare their intent to eradicate critical women’s voices through unlawful use of force. Taliban leaders have denied arresting the women, heightening concerns for their safety and prompt release.
On January 16, Paryani and Ibrahimkhel participated in a protest in Kabul against recent Taliban abuses of women protesters and other restrictions on women. Witnesses said that on the night of January 19, armed men claiming to be Taliban intelligence broke through the door of Paryani’s home and took her away, along with three of her sisters. Paryani posted a video on social media of the moment before the men broke into her house. Ibrahimkhel was similarly abducted from her home and her whereabouts remain unknown.
Since taking over the country on August 15, the Taliban have imposed harsh restrictions on women’s right to work, banned secondary education for girls in most of the country, and beaten peaceful women protesters. Taliban authorities have severely limited what the media can report and have detained and beaten journalists. Taliban forces have forcibly disappeared former government officials.
On January 23, during talks in Oslo, Norway, between Taliban authorities and several Western governments, Afghan activist Hoda Khamosh publicly called on the Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to “pick up his phone now and call Kabul [and] order the immediate release” of the detained women.
Muttaqi reportedly responded that there were bad people among the Taliban whom the Taliban were expelling and said such elements may have detained the women. He said the situation was under investigation. Taliban authorities previously claimed to have dismissed some of their forces for theft and other crimes, but have been conspicuously silent about killings and enforced disappearances, blaming these instead on “rogue” elements.
Taliban denials of the arrests were undermined on January 23 when Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the Taliban had the right "to arrest and detain dissidents.”
By failing to hold their forces accountable, Taliban leaders are sanctioning such human rights violations against women activists and others. Arbitrary arrests and disappearances have become the Taliban’s routine method of responding to criticism. The Taliban should ensure the women’s immediate and unconditional release. The United Nations and all countries meeting with the Taliban, including Norway, should press for an immediate end to all abuses.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 1, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jan 6, 2022
- Event Description
Taliban authorities should immediately and unconditionally release journalists Faisal Modaris, Idris Rahimi, and Milad Azizi, and cease detaining members of the press for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
On January 6, armed Taliban authorities detained the three journalists, all of whom work at the Kabul Lovers YouTube-based broadcaster, along with Azizi’s brother Rashid Azizi, while they were at a restaurant in the Shari Naw area of Kabul’s District Four, according to three people with knowledge of the situation who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of retaliation by the Taliban, as well as posts on Twitter by local journalists and activists.
Modaris works as a presenter for Kabul Lovers, Rahimi as a camera operator, and Milad Azizi owns the outlet, according to those sources. The broadcaster covers current affairs and daily life in Kabul and has continued since the Taliban takeover in August; it has about 240,000 followers on its YouTube channel.
Authorities later released Rashid Noori, but Modaris, Rahimi, and Azizi remain in custody according to those people who spoke to CPJ, adding that the journalists are being held by the counterterrorism body of the Directorate General of Intelligence, the Taliban’s intelligence agency, and have not been able to see their families or lawyers.
“The detention of Afghan journalists Faisal Modaris, Idris Rahimi, and Milad Azizi indicates a worrisome and reprehensible escalation of Taliban attacks on the independent media,” said CPJ Asia Coordinator Steven Butler. “Taliban authorities should unconditionally release the three journalists and stop imprisoning members of the press in retaliation for their work.”
The people who spoke to CPJ said that a Taliban member called Modaris’ family confirming that the three had been detained. The family member feared that the journalists could be tortured in detention, those people said.
The three recently covered protests by residents of Panjshir province after Taliban militias killed a civilian there, and featured protesters harshly criticizing the Taliban; the report was viewed more than 100,000 times, and it was cited by international news outlets including the BBC. The people who spoke to CPJ said they believed that reporting, because it contained criticism of the Taliban and was so widely shared, was likely the reason for the journalists’ arrests.
Ahmadullah Wasiq, a Taliban deputy spokesperson in Afghanistan, did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment sent via messaging app. CPJ was unable to find contact information for the General Directorate of Intelligence.
Separately, on January 9, the Taliban released journalist Khalil Fitri after holding him in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif since December 13, according to news reports.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 19, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Dec 28, 2021
- Event Description
A number of Afghan women have been injured in a stampede caused by Taliban guards firing in the air during a protest in Kabul against discriminatory measures including new travel restrictions on women.
The protest on December 28 came amid rising anger -- both within the country and internationally -- over the Taliban's moves to restrict the rights of women.
Participants told RFE/RL that up to 130 women attended the protest in Kabul, and shots fired in the air by Taliban militants trying to disperse the demonstration prompted fleeing protesters to fall and trample one another. Several women sustained injuries in the stampede, witnesses said.
It was not immediately clear how many women were injured in the incident.
Afghanistan's Asvaka news agency reported that the incident occurred near the hospital of the Italian Emergency humanitarian organization. It gave no information on victims or wounded.
Reshmina, one of the protesters who suffered injuries while falling on a gas tank, told RFE/RL she was too scared to see a doctor for treatment.
"My face is injured so badly that even now when I speak with you, I am in much pain. We couldn't even go to a doctor because we don't feel safe, we are threatened. Even now, while speaking with you I am shaking [with fear]."
There was a second, much smaller protest in the western part of Kabul during which women accused the Taliban of killing soldiers who served under the previous government that was toppled by the militant group in mid-August, RFE/RL correspondents reported.
Taliban officials did not immediately respond to requests from RFE/RL for comment.
On December 26, officials said that women seeking to travel more than 72 kilometers should not be offered transport unless they were accompanied by a close male relative.
In the advisory distributed by the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, all vehicle drivers also were directed to refrain from playing music in their cars, and not to pick up female passengers who do not wear an Islamic hijab.
Since taking over Afghanistan, the Taliban have named an all-male government that is dominated by veteran militants vowing a return to strict Shari'a law, a stark blow to Afghan and international hopes that the Taliban's second stint in power will prove less restrictive than two decades ago.
The hard-line Islamist group has shut down the former administration's Women's Affairs Ministry and significantly curtailed women's rights. The vast majority of women have been banned from working, while many girls and women have been deprived of the right to an education.
"Women can't travel alone or go to schools and colleges...this kind of retrogressive thinking is dangerous," Pakistani Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said late on December 27 in a rare rebuke of the Taliban from neighboring Pakistan.
Last month, the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice ordered Afghanistan's television channels to stop showing dramas featuring women actors and said female television journalists must wear a hijab.
Women's rights were severely curtailed during the Taliban's previous rule in the 1990s, when they were then forced to wear the all-covering burqa, only allowed to leave home with a male chaperone, and banned from work, education, and sports.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest, Women's rights
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 11, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Dec 19, 2021
- Event Description
The Taliban must thoroughly investigate the recent attack on journalist Jawed Yusufi, hold those responsible to account, and ensure the safety of Afghan reporters, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
At about 5 p.m. yesterday, four unidentified men followed Yusufi, a reporter with the independent online Ufuq News Agency, while he was on his way home in the Dashte Barchi area of Kabul, the capital, and attacked him, according to a report by his employer and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app.
The men punched and kicked Yusufi repeatedly and stabbed him in the back several times while he was trying to escape, and then fled the scene, according to the journalist. He told CPJ that he was brought to two local hospitals that were unable to treat his injuries, and at about 1:30 a.m. today he underwent an operation for several hours at a third location, Kabul’s Ibne Sina Hospital.
Yusufi told CPJ that the men did not take anything from him, and during the attack one of them called him “the foolish journalist.”
“The Taliban must take swift action to apprehend the men behind the brutal attack on journalist Jawed Yusufi and bring them to justice,” said CPJ Asia Coordinator Steven Butler, in Washington, D.C. “Prosecuting those who attack journalists is an essential measure to assure any semblance of press freedom in Afghanistan.”
Following the incident, Yusufi called a Taliban spokesperson and reported the attack; a Taliban agent from Police District 13 met the journalist at the first hospital he was brought to, and asked if he was okay, Yusufi said. Taliban today authorities blamed “armed thieves” for the attack, according to news reports.
In a previous incident, on November 5, 2014, unidentified armed men in Kabul beat and punched Yusufi, while he was then working at the Arezo TV station, according to news reports. He subsequently received threats from people who said they wanted to torture and kill him, the journalist said. Yusufi told CPJ that, after that 2014 attack, he lived mostly in hiding and briefly stopped working as a journalist.
After the Taliban takeover of Kabul on August 15, 2021, Yusufi worked for Ufuq News Agency from a hidden location, he said. His recent work has covered education, crime, the deteriorating free speech situation since the Taliban takeover, and the prospect of women’s resistance under the Taliban.
Ufuq News Agency is an independent online news platform that covers political, security, and economic issues in Afghanistan.
Ahmadullah Wasiq, a Taliban deputy spokesperson in Afghanistan, did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment sent via messaging app.
On December 11, the director of the Taliban-controlled Kabul Directorate of Refugee Affairs, Abdul Matin Rahimzai, and his bodyguards detained and beat Afghan journalist Sayed Rashed Kashefi, as CPJ documented at the time.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 11, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Dec 11, 2021
- Event Description
Sayed Rashed Kashefi, a reporter with the Kabul Times and Rasa TV, was allegedly beaten and detained for over six hours while covering a fight at an aid distribution site in Kabul’s 5th district. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Afghanistan affiliate, the Afghan Independent Journalists’ Association (AIJA), condemn the journalist’s detention and urge the Taliban authorities to swiftly investigate the incident.
On December 11, Abdul Matin Rahimzai, director of the Taliban administered Kabul Directorate of Refugee Affairs, and his bodyguards, interrupted Kashefi as he filmed a scuffle between one bodyguard and several female aid recipients.
Kashefi’s hands were tied and he was taken to the office of the Directorate of Refugee Affairs, where he was interrogated about the motive of the recording.
Rahimzai allegedly slapped the journalist on his face during the inquiry and confiscated both his smartphone and voice recorder used to document the incident. A bodyguard then handcuffed Kashefi and detained him for approximately six hours before his release.
According to Kashefi, Rahimzai’s bodyguard struck him on his back several times with a pipe. The journalist suffered wounds from the beating, according to photos posted by the Afghanistan Journalists Centre on Twitter.
Once the AIJA learned of the incident, it lobbied for Kashefi’s immediate release and the return of the confiscated recording devices, however, these have not been returned.
Afghanistan’s media landscape is increasingly fraught, as attacks against journalists and media workers, financial stress and harsh media restrictions increase following the Taliban’s takeover in mid-August. As many as 257 media outlets have shuttered since the Taliban gained control and, according to research conducted by the Afghanistan National Journalists Union (ANJU), at least 67% of journalists and media workers have been rendered jobless.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 11, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jan 9, 2022
- Event Description
A prominent Afghan university professor who openly criticised the Taliban's hardline regime has been arrested in Kabul, a spokesman for the government said.
Professor Faizullah Jalal has made several appearances on television talk shows since the previous US-backed government was ousted in August, blaming the Taliban for the worsening financial crisis and criticising them for ruling by force.
Since returning to power, the Taliban have cracked down on dissent, forcefully dispersing women's rights protests and briefly detaining several Afghan journalists.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted that Jalal had been detained Saturday over statements he made on social media in which he was "trying to instigate people against the system and was playing with the dignity of the people".
"He has been arrested so that others don't make similar senseless comments in the name of being a professor or scholar that harm the dignity of others," he added.
Mujahid shared screenshots of tweets he claimed had been posted by Jalal, which said the Taliban intelligence chief was a stooge of Pakistan, and that the new government considers Afghans as "donkeys".
In one television appearance, Jalal called Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem -- who was also participating -- a "calf", a grave insult in Afghanistan.
Clips of his passionate criticism went viral on social media, sparking concern he risked Taliban retribution.
Jalal's wife Massouda, who once stood as Afghanistan's first woman candidate for the presidency, posted on Facebook that her husband had been arrested by Taliban forces and detained in an unknown location.
"Dr. Jalal has fought and spoken out for justice and the national interest in all his activities pertaining to human rights," she said.
A long-time professor of law and political science at Kabul University, Jalal has long had a reputation as a critic of Afghanistan's leaders.
On Twitter, rights group Amnesty International condemned the arrest of the lecturer "for exercising his freedom of expression and criticising the Taliban", calling for his immediate and unconditional release.
The Taliban have formed an all-male cabinet made up entirely of members of the group, and almost exclusively of ethnic Pashtuns.
They have further restricted women's rights to work and study, triggering widespread international condemnation.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Academic
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 10, 2022
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Nov 18, 2021
- Event Description
The Taliban must thoroughly investigate the recent attack on journalist Ahmad Baseer Ahmadi and do everything in their power to protect the safety of members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
At about 5:30 p.m. on November 18, in Kabul, the capital, two unidentified men beat and attempted to shoot Ahmadi, a presenter at the privately owned broadcaster Ayna TV, according to a report by the local broadcaster TOLO News and a person familiar with the incident, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal by local armed groups.
Ahmad was walking home when the men, whose faces were covered by black handkerchiefs, shouted, “Reporter! Wait and stop,” and demanded to see his identification card and asked him where he worked, that person said.
When Ahmadi asked the men who they were, they told him not to ask questions and demanded he unlock his phone and open his WhatsApp and Facebook accounts; when Ahmadi refused, the men beat him with pistols on his head, hands, shoulders, and back, the person said.
Ahmadi called for help and the men shot at him, but missed as the journalist fell to the ground; they then kicked him, breaking his jaw and teeth, and fled the scene, the person told CPJ.
“The Taliban has repeatedly failed to uphold its stated commitment to press freedom, as violent attacks against journalists continue and proper investigations or accountability are nowhere to be found,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “The Taliban should reverse this trend by thoroughly investigating the attack on Ahmad Baseer Ahmadi, and holding the perpetrators accountable.”
Ahmadi was hospitalized for two nights following the attack, the person familiar with his case told CPJ.
That person said Ayna TV had stopped broadcasting following the Taliban takeover and recently resumed work in Afghanistan, and its content is now controlled by the Taliban. CPJ was able to locate examples of Ahmadi’s work at Ayna TV before the Taliban took control of the country; in June, he interviewed officials with the former Afghan government, and spoke to experts regarding violence against women and natural disasters. CPJ was unable to find examples of the journalist’s work after the Taliban takeover in August.
He previously reported on topics including the National Security Forces of the previous government for the privately owned broadcaster 24 TV.
Taliban deputy spokesperson Bilal Karimi did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment sent via messaging app.
In October, unidentified gunmen injured journalists Abdul Khaliq Hussaini and Alireza Sharifi in separate attacks in Kabul, and Taliban members beat and detained Zahidullah Husainkhil, as CPJ documented at the time.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Vilification, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 26, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Oct 27, 2021
- Event Description
Four female activists were found dead in controversial circumstances in the PD-1 of Afghanistan’s Mazar-e-Sharif province.
The bodies were found in a pit on the outskirts of Khalid bin Walid township. A civil activist named Forouzan Safi is also among the victims.
Mohammad Sabir Bator, Forouzan Safi’s husband, who is also a civil activist, has left the country due to security threats and is currently living in Iran. He told Hasht-e Subh that his wife had been mysteriously and purposefully shot dead in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif at 2:30 pm on Wednesday, October 27, along with three young women’s rights activists.
According to him, his wife left home at two o’clock in the afternoon after receiving a call from people who introduced themselves as representatives of a human rights organization and then disappeared.
Ten days before the incident, other people had also called Forouzan Safi, he said.
They claimed to be members of a human rights organization, assisting civil activists and human rights defenders in leaving Afghanistan.
Mr. Bator said his wife had left home on Wednesday afternoon with her education and travel documents, telling her family members that she wanted to flee Afghanistan secretly with the help of a human rights organization.
Her family called Forouzan an hour or two after she left the house, but their calls were not answered. According to the relatives, they finally tried to find Forouzan Safi. A few hours after the attempt, her dead body was found in the morgue of Mazar-e-Sharif Central Hospital.
Her relatives say the body of the civil activist was taken to Mazar-e-Sharif Hospital by unknown individuals, of whom the hospital has no information. These people also took Forouzan Safi’s mobile phone, jewelry, and educational documents with them.
According to the female activist’s relatives, they have contacted local Taliban officials to track down the perpetrators, but have not received a positive response. According to them, there are currently four unidentified bodies of young women in the hospital morgue, whose families have not yet been found.
In an interview with our correspondent, Sabir Bator, Forouzan Safi’s husband, reported that his wife had been killed in a pre-arranged plan.
There are now organized networks in Afghanistan seeking to identify and assassinate civil activists and journalists, he said.
According to him, most of these incidents are not reported in the media.
The identities of the other three victims are still unknown. Local Taliban officials have not yet commented on the incident. The incident comes as the targeted killings of former government forces, civil society activists, and journalists have increased in Afghanistan.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 5, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Oct 12, 2021
- Event Description
On Tuesday, October 12, a civil activist was shot by unknown gunmen in the city of Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province.
The civil activist is known as Abdul Rahman Mawen.
Hours ago, he was killed in the Chihel Metri area of the 4th district of Jalalabad city, sources say.
The attackers fled the area, according to the sources’ information.
ShadNoor Mazloom Yar, the brother of Abdul Rahman confirmed and reported the killing of his brother to 8am Daily. However, he hasn’t given more details.
The Taliban hasn’t told anything about the case yet.
No one or group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Abdul Rahman Mawen is originally from Laghman who had been living in Nangarhar for 15 years, and he had civil activities.
A prominent civil society activist was gunned down in Afghanistan's restive eastern Nangarhar province bordering Pakistan on Tuesday amid an ongoing targeted assassination spree.
Eye-witnesses told Anadolu Agency the incident took place during the morning rush hour in the provincial capital, Jalalabad city. Shad Noor, the brother of the deceased activist Abdul Rahmad Mawin, has also confirmed the incident.
According to the local Killid Radio, Mawin was driving his car when the assailants riding an auto-rickshaw opened fire at him before fleeing from the spot in the 4th district of the city.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack so far.
With the rise to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the assassination spree has not ceased in the war-ravaged country.
The Taliban last week claimed dismantling a Daesh/ISIS hideout in the capital Kabul, blamed for many of such attacks.
But days after that the group claimed orchestrating targeted killings in Nangarhar and Parwan provinces as well as a massive suicide bombing in a Shia community mosque in the northern Kunduz province, killing more than 50 people.
Prior to that, at least eight people were killed in another Daesh-claimed suicide attack at a mosque in Kabul where people had gathered for a memorial service for the late mother of Zabihullah Mujahid, acting deputy information minister in the interim Taliban administration.
Many Afghans wearily refer to the uptick in IS attacks as the start of a "new game" in the country. In Jalalabad, it's not just the Taliban who are being targeted. Civil society activist Abdul Rahman Mawen was driving home from a wedding earlier this month when gunmen opened fire on his vehicle. His two young sons, aged 10 and 12 cowered in the car as their father was shot dead. IS issued a short statement claiming responsibility.
Speaking from the family's home, his brother, Shad Noor, is despondent. "From the bottom of my heart, when the Taliban took power we were very happy and optimistic: that corruption, murders, explosions would be eradicated," he says.
"But now we are realising a new phenomenon is being imposed upon us, by the name of Daesh."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Extremist group
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 5, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Oct 24, 2021
- Event Description
On October 24, Taliban militia attacked freelance journalist, Sadaqat Ghorzan, while reporting on the recently reopened Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemn the Taliban’s repeated attacks against journalists and call on the Taliban to uphold their commitments to a free, democratic press.
Sadaqat Ghorzan, a freelance journalist on assignment with TOLOnews, was beaten with rifles on his head and arms by Taliban border forces near Torkham gate, a major crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Ghorzan was covering Afghans’ attempts to flee to Pakistan.
Although Ghorzan reached the border with official permission to report from the Taliban, upon arrival Taliban forces seized and destroyed his camera and mobile phone. “I reached the Torkham crossing after having talk with the commissioner along with his body guard, but I was attacked all of sudden even without giving any reasons,” Ghorzan said.
The Thorkam border was reopened on October 21 for travelers with visas following a visit by Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimate over half a million Afghans will flee across border by the end of year as economic and humanitarian crises unfold under the Taliban's rule.
Ghorzan’s attack was widely criticized by the journalists’ fraternity. TOLOnews head Khpolwak Sapai opined that if cases like Ghorzan’s are ignored, working journalists across Afghanistan will suffer and urged that the incident be investigated.
Journalists have been increasingly targeted following the Taliban’s take-over in mid-August, with over 70% of Afghan journalists having received threats according to a study by Afghanistan National Journalists Union (ANJU). On October 21, Taliban militants attacked at least three journalists covering a women’s protest rally in Kabul. In a separate incident on September 7 and 8, Taliban militants arrested more than 14 media workers covering anti-Pakistan and women’s protests in Kabul.
The Taliban must thoroughly investigate the beating of Sadaqat Ghorzang, ensure its forces do not attack members of the press, and commit to allowing the media to operate freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Yesterday, a Taliban fighter patrolling the Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Nangarhar province of eastern Afghanistan beat freelance reporter Sadaqat Ghorzang on his head and arm with a rifle while he was on assignment for privately owned broadcaster TOLOnews reporting about Afghans attempting to cross the border into Pakistan, according to a report by TOLOnews and Ghorzang, who spoke with CPJ via phone.
“The Taliban’s promise that independent media can continue to operate freely under its rule is worthless until it ensures that its forces do not attack and harass members of the press,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “The Taliban must swiftly and impartially investigate the beating of Sadaqat Ghorzhang and guarantee that the journalist is not subject to further retaliation after speaking out about the incident.”
Before he began reporting, Ghorzang said he visited the office of the Taliban commander overseeing the patrol of the area and received his permission to report. He said that the commander fulfilled the journalist’s request to provide a Taliban military officer to act as a bodyguard during his reporting.
Ghorzang said as he was reporting, the bodyguard was slightly ahead of him when a Taliban fighter approached him, confiscated his tripod, microphone, and camera and threw them into a river, and broke his phone. He said the Taliban fighter then repeatedly beat him with a rifle on his head and arm despite Ghorzang saying that he had received permission to report in the area, and the bodyguard’s intervention telling the Taliban fighter not to beat him.
Ghorzang said he then went back to the office of the Taliban commander to complain about the incident and that the commander ordered the fighter who beat him to leave the area.
After Ghorzang left the office, the Taliban fighter who beat him approached the journalist, along with a group of around five other Taliban fighters, and aggressively asked him why he complained to the commander, he told CPJ.
He said that after he recounted the incident in a video published by TOLOnews, the Taliban fighter has contacted him in messages and phone calls, aggressively asking him why he reported on the incident.
Ghorzang said he is in significant pain in the areas where he was beaten and that he sought medical attention at a hospital, where he was prescribed painkillers.
Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban spokesperson in Qatar, and Bilal Karimi, the Taliban deputy spokesperson in Afghanistan, did not respond to CPJ’s requests for comment sent via messaging app.
On October 21, Taliban fighters assaulted at least three journalists covering a women’s protest in Kabul, as CPJ documented.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Restrictions on Movement, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 30, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Oct 21, 2021
- Event Description
On October 21, Taliban militants attacked several journalists covering a protest rally organized by a group of women demanding “work, bread, and education" in Kabul. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Afghanistan affiliate, the Afghan Independent Journalists’ Association (AIJA) express serious concern on the attacks and urges the Taliban to respect the media, freedom of expression and women’s rights.
Taliban militants beat several print and electronic media journalists to prevent them from covering the women’s protest held in the morning of October 21 in Kabul. In a video received by the IFJ, Taliban members are seen punching and kicking journalists. A foreign journalist who was reporting from the protest venue was hit with the butt of a rifle. The journalist was kicked in the back and punched. According to the AIJA, AFP photojournalist Bülent Kiliç and Afghan News Agency reporter Shafiullah Kakar were among those attacked.
The protest rally, attended by around 20 women, was organisedin response to a rapid deterioration in women’s rights in Afghanistan including the right to education and the right to work following the Taliban takeover of the country in mid-August. Since then, the Taliban went on to close down Afghanistan’s women’s affairs ministry on September 16, replacing it with a controversial ‘virtue and vice ministry’.
Journalists covering an earlier protest on September 7 and 8 were also attacked when militants arrested more than 14 media workers while covering anti-Pakistan and women’s protests in Kabul.
Taliban militants have attacked several journalists covering a Kabul rally by a group of women demanding "work, bread, and education," spurring concerns about the deterioration of the rights situation under Afghanistan’s new rulers.
After it toppled the internationally recognized government in Kabul in mid-August, the Taliban claimed it would show more moderation than during its brutal rule from 1996 to 2001, when girls were not allowed to attend school and women were banned from work, education, and sports. However, the United Nations and rights groups have slammed the Taliban's "broken" promises to allow women to work and girls to have access to all levels of education, and blamed Afghanistan’s new rulers for imposing “wide-ranging restrictions” on media and free speech.
With girls in only five of Afghanistan's 34 provinces allowed to attend secondary schools, and the vast majority of women ordered not to return to work, a group of about 20 women marched in the streets of Kabul on October 21 to defend their rights.
The demonstrators chanted slogans such as "Don't politicize education" before the Taliban intervened. At
one point a Taliban fighter struck a foreign photographer with the butt of his rifle and kicked him as another militant punched the journalist, according to AFP.
At least two other journalists were hit as they scattered, pursued by Taliban fighters swinging fists and launching kicks, the news agency reported.
"The situation is that the Taliban don't respect anything: not journalists -- foreign and local -- or women," said Zahra Mohammadi, one of the protest organizers.
Taliban officials did not immediately comment. Afghans have staged scattered street protests since the Taliban takeover, many with women at the forefront, despite a ban on unauthorized demonstrations.
The previous day, the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, tweeted: “The education of ALL girls in Afghanistan must resume now.”
“Millions of children have already lost out on learning because of conflict and COVID-19. As schools reopen, girls cannot, and must not, be left behind.”
The Taliban has announced 11 new “journalism rules” that rights groups say could be used to persecute journalists, and detained and beaten a number of them over the past weeks.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 30, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 7, 2021
- Event Description
Systematic death threats, attacks, and killings of human rights defenders have been rampant across Afghanistan even prior to the withdrawal of US troops. This includes those working in civil society organizations or NGOs- that is, anyone who individually or with others act to promote or protect human rights in a peaceful manner. Since the capture of Kabul by the Taliban on 15 August 2021, the lives of thousands of women and men who had risked their safety to promote and defend human rights, gender equality, rule of law, and democratic freedoms in their country are now, more than ever, hanging by a thread. While it is now almost impossible to carry out any human rights work, attacks on human rights defenders have reportedly been on the rise without any sign of abating. Since 15 August, the Taliban and armed groups have engaged in large-scale door-to-door searches, forcing human rights defenders into hiding, and moving clandestinely from one place to another. Meanwhile, escalating violence in the provinces has forced a large number of defenders to leave their home and internally relocate to Kabul. Human rights defenders were also beaten up by the Taliban. Yet very few are willing to publicly denounce the attacks for fear of further reprisals. This demonstrates the climate of fear under which Afghan defenders are now forced to live and are trying to escape.
On 7 September 2021, Omid Sharifi and Bashir Ahmad Bayat, community-based defenders, were shot by the Taliban during a protest and later died for the injuries in Herat, Afghanistan.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 24, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 11, 2021
- Event Description
A female civil society activist in southern Kandahar province said the Taliban entered her house, assaulted her and abducted five people from her home.
The incident took place in limits of 15th police district on Saturday night.
Dr. Fahima Rahmati, who is also the head of the Hope Foundation, in a live video message on Facebook while loudly crying provided information about the incident.
She told Pajhwok Afghan News that dozens of armed Taliban entered their house without permission and started beating women, men and firing in the air.
She added the Taliban had abducted five men, including her two brothers, a brother in law and a neighbor. According to her, her elder brother was shot wounded by the Taliban.
She said only her elder brother worked in the former National Directorate of Security but he had left the job six months ago for personal reasons.
The Taliban have announced a general amnesty, so why they intimidate people, she grumbled.
Rahmati to Taliban: “Why are you spreading terror? Is government done this way, why are you forcing me to flee the country? Does Islam allow such acts? I received invitations from three countries, but I rejected them and said the country needs me.”
Kandahar’s intelligence chief, Rahmatullah Naraiwal, said the Taliban had received information last night that former NDS operatives were residing in a house in Kandahar’s 15th police district.
He added that as soon as they reached the house, they came under fire from the house after which Taliban fighters overpowered them and arrest the men and took them away.
But Fahima Rahmati denied the allegations, saying they did not even have a single bullet in the house.
Her brother had been given a Kalashnikov and a pistol for self-defense during his job but after leaving the job six months ago he handed over the weapons to the concerned authorities.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Intimidation and Threats, Raid, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD, NGO staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 24, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 18, 2021
- Event Description
At first, it seemed like a regular commute home for Mohammad Ali Ahmadi. The Kabul-based journalist was riding a city van home Saturday evening after leaving work at a radio station.
Sitting in the middle seat of the Toyota TownAce, Ahmadi sensed nothing out of the ordinary about the other passengers, just regular commuters shooting the breeze about the latest developments in the Afghan capital.
Then the passenger next him — a man who Ahmadi said was bearded and in his early 30s — asked what he did for a living.
"I'm a reporter," Ahmadi responded.
"What television station do you work for?" the man asked.
"I don't work for a television station," Ahmadi said. "I work for Radio Salam Watandar."
"Oh, the American radio station?" the man asked.
Ahmadi explained that the station was a local radio network and not American, he told VOA. The man, saying nothing, signaled for the driver to drop him at the next stop.
As the passenger stepped out of the van, he pulled out a gun. Without uttering a word, he fired several shots at Ahmadi. Two struck the journalist in the leg.
"It was so sudden and so loud, for a second I thought it was a suicide explosion or something," Ahmadi said. "It took me some time to realize I'd been hit."
The gunman fled, the other passengers scurried out of the van and the driver left.
Bleeding heavily, Ahmadi lay on the side of the street. A passerby finally came to his aid, using a scarf as a tourniquet to stanch the bleeding.
"I was still conscious, and I was able to call my family," Ahmadi told VOA on Tuesday, in an interview from the hospital.
The gunman has not been identified. Ahmadi and his network both said it was unclear which group, if any, the man was affiliated with.
Nasir Maimanagy, managing director of Salam Watandar Radio Network, told VOA that the station reported the attack to the Taliban, who denied responsibility and promised to investigate
"We demanded that they investigate this thoroughly as it's a crime and it happened under their watch," Maimanagy said in an email to VOA.
Still, the shooting "has sent a strong wave of fear down the spine of every single employee of (Salam Watandar)," Maimanagy said.
"They are shocked and afraid," he said. "They feel that soon they will be targeted and much worse might await them. Ahmadi was fired at five times and only two of them hit him. He is lucky to have survived."
The shooting is one of several violent incidents directed at the media since the Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15.
The Taliban detained and later released at least 14 journalists covering protests on September 7 and 8, according to media watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists. At least nine were subjected to violence during their arrests or detention.
Salam Watandar reporter Shakib Siavash was among those detained and beaten for covering a protest.
Two of those detained, Etilaatroz photographer Nematullah Naqdi and reporter Taqi Daryabi, recalled how they had been beaten and kicked for hours while in custody.
The Taliban have said they would investigate the beatings.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid has said all media outlets "will be free" as long as they operate within the bounds of Islamic law, known as Shariah, and promote national unity.
During their previous rule over Afghanistan, from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban banned all independent media outlets. Over the next two decades, under Afghanistan's U.S.-backed government, hundreds of independent radio and TV stations, including Salam Watandar, operated in the country.
Despite the Taliban's pledge to respect press freedom, dozens of news outlets have shut down, and thousands of journalists have tried to leave the country.
The International Federation of Journalists estimates that at least 153 Afghan media organizations have stopped operating since the Taliban takeover.
Those outlets that have continued are adapting their tone and content to avoid running afoul of the Taliban, according to Salam Watandar journalist Ahmadi.
In a September 16 appeal sent to Reporters Without Borders, a group of more than 100 Afghan journalists — nearly all still working in Afghanistan — called for "a campaign on behalf of press freedom in our country, for the preservation of the gains of the past 20 years, including media independence, pluralism and the protection of journalists."
"Despite public undertakings by the Taliban, we see concrete signs of an undeclared general crackdown that includes threats to journalists in the field, intimidation of news media and indirect censorship," the anonymous journalists wrote.
So far, Salam Watandar has not had to make dramatic changes, Ahmadi said.
Established in the early 2000s by Internews, a California-based media development organization, Salam Watandar distributes news and other programming to a network of independent stations around Afghanistan.
"I felt that if things were left as they were, it would not be a huge difference from the past (for us)," Ahmadi said. "Unless, of course, if they change the laws and impose new restrictions on us. In which case, we'd have to change professions or leave the country."
But the gun attack has changed how Ahmadi feels about his own safety.
Once optimistic, Ahmadi, who graduated from journalism school in 2014 and has since worked as a reporter and editor at several news outlets, says the shooting was a turning point.
"My priority at the moment is to get better, to recover my health," Ahmadi said from his hospital bed at the Italian-supported emergency hospital in Kabul. "I didn't want to leave the country before, but after this incident, I've come to the conclusion that my life is no longer safe here."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 24, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 8, 2021
- Event Description
Over the last two days, the Taliban detained and later released at least 14 journalists covering protests in Kabul, the capital, against the group, according to various news reports and people familiar with the incidents who spoke with CPJ via phone and messaging app. At least nine of these journalists were subject to violence during their arrests or detention, according to those sources.
Some journalists, including those with the BBC, were also prevented from filming the protest yesterday, according to the BBC.
“The Taliban is quickly proving that earlier promises to allow Afghanistan’s independent media to continue operating freely and safely are worthless,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “We urge the Taliban to live up to those earlier promises, to stop beating and detaining reporters doing their job, and allow the media to work freely without fear of reprisal.”
Today, Taliban fighters detained Taqi Daryabi and Nematullah Naqdi, a video editor and a video reporter with the daily newspaper Etilaatroz, following their coverage of ongoing protests in Kabul, according to Etilaatroz and the Los Angeles Times.
Taqi Daryabi and Naqdi told Agence France-Presse that the Taliban fighters punched and beat them with batons, electrical cables, and whips after accusing them of organizing the protest. Taqi Daryabi told the Los Angeles Times that he was shoved to the ground and beaten unconscious in Taliban custody. Naqdi told AFP that Taliban fighters insulted him and kicked him in the head, and that a Taliban fighter placed his foot on his head and crushed his face against the concrete. When he was asked why he was being beaten, he was told, “you are lucky you weren’t beheaded,” he said, according to AFP.
Zaki Daryabi, Etilaatroz‘s publisher, told CPJ via phone after publication that the Taliban subjected Taqi Daryabi and Naqdi to severe physical abuse that he described as “torture” for four hours, citing the flogging, and said that each lost consciousness at least four times and one time, respectively, in custody. CPJ could not independently confirm allegations of torture.
Taqi Daryabi’s lower back, upper legs, and face, and Naqdi’s left arm, upper back, upper legs, and face were marked by red lesions after the beatings, as seen in photos posted to Twitter by Etilaatroz and Zaki Daryabi and on the Los Angeles Times’ website. Taqi Daryabi appeared to be unable to walk unaided, according to a video posted on Twitter by Zaki Daryabi.
CPJ was unable to immediately determine the full extent of the journalists’ injuries. The two received treatment at a hospital, according to Zaki Daryabi and a tweet by Etilaatroz.
Before they were let go, Etilaatroz’s editor and two other journalists arrived at the station to persuade the Taliban to release Taqi Daryabi and Naqdi and they were also detained, according to the Los Angeles Times and Zaki Daryabi. Al-Jazeera and Zaki Daryabi identified the editor as Kadhim Karimi and the two other journalists as Aber Shaygan and Lutfali Sultani, an investigative reporter and current affairs reporter with Etilaatroz.
Al-Jazeera reported that the three said that Taliban fighters pushed and slapped them and took their belongings, including mobile phones, upon their arrival to the station. The three were taken into a small holding cell with 15 people in it, Shaygan told Al-Jazeera. Karimi, Shaygan, and Sultani did not sustain any injuries and did not seek medical attention, according to Zaki Daryabi.
Zaki Daryabi told CPJ that Taqi Daryabi and Naqdi were released after approximately four hours in detention, and Karimi, Shaygan, and Sultani were released after approximately three and a half hours in detention, adding that the Taliban returned all of the journalists’ belongings.
Shaygan told Al-Jazeera that a Taliban official warned them that “what these protesters were doing is illegal and by covering such things, you all broke the law. We will let you go this time, but next time you won’t be let out so easily.”
Zaki Daryabi told CPJ that Etilaatroz contacted two senior Taliban officials upon hearing that Taki Daryabi and Naqdi were detained, but has not received a response as of September 9. Etilaatroz seeks to lodge a complaint with Taliban officials, he said.
“This is the first very serious incident involving journalists in Kabul, and if we don’t stand together, much worse things may happen,” Zaki Daryabi told The New York Times.
Also today, Taliban fighters surrounded two journalists with the Los Angeles Times covering a protest in Kabul, lunged for one of the journalists’ cameras, and shoved them toward a local police station, according to the newspaper’s report. A Taliban leader told the journalists that photographing protests was “illegal,” and ordered them to delete any photos, according to that report. The journalists were escorted to their car and were watched until they left, the report said. CPJ was unable to immediately determine the identities of those journalists.
Also today, a local producer with EuroNews was detained and later released by the Taliban, according to the Los Angeles Times and a tweet by the outlet. A colleague of the producer told the Los Angeles Times that three Taliban fighters repeatedly slapped him in the face and confiscated his phone and wallet, which were returned when he was released. CPJ was unable to immediately determine the identity of that producer.
- Impact of Event
- 8
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 14, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 7, 2021
- Event Description
The Taliban have fired warning shots to disperse the crowd at a large protest in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Video footage from the scene shows people running to safety, while heavy gunfire can be heard in the background.
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets on Tuesday to denounce Taliban rule and demand women's rights.
Protesters also chanted anti-Pakistan slogans, as many believe neighbouring Pakistan supports the Taliban, which the country denies.
A video sent to the BBC shows Taliban fighters firing their guns into the air - a move the group banned last week after several people were reported killed after celebratory aerial fire.
Guards at a nearby bank opened its basement car park to dozens of women who sheltered from the gunfire for about 20 minutes, one of the protesters told the BBC.
Some journalists, including the BBC's team, were prevented from filming at the rally. Afghanistan's Tolo news agency reported that its cameraman was arrested and detained by the Taliban for nearly three hours.
A former government official, who asked to remain anonymous, told the BBC that Taliban members were taking close-up photos of leading protesters, possibly to help identify them later.
Women have been protesting for the past week, but on Tuesday men also joined their calls for equality and safety. Many observers had commented that there were few men at the previous women-led rallies.
The protesters were heard chanting "long live the resistance" and "death to Pakistan" as they marched.
"The Islamic government is shooting at our poor people," one woman at the protest told Reuters news agency.
Another protester, Sarah Fahim, told AFP news agency: "Afghan women want their country to be free. They want their country to be rebuilt. We are tired... We want that all our people have normal lives. How long shall we live in this situation?"
The demonstrations come one day after Ahmad Massoud, the leader of anti-Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley, called for a "national uprising" by civilians against the militants.
Many protesters showed support for the resistance forces, who say they are still fighting off the Taliban in Panjshir.
The Taliban on Monday claimed victory in the province - the final pocket of territory which has remained outside their rule.
Yesterday at approximately 11:00 a.m., Taliban fighters detained Wahid Ahmadi, a camera operator with the privately owned broadcaster TOLO News, while he was filming the protest near the presidential palace in Kabul, according to a report by his employer and Lotfullah Najafizada, the head of TOLO News TV, who spoke with CPJ via phone.
Taliban fighters confiscated Ahmadi’s camera, handcuffed him, and took him to the Taliban military headquarters in Kabul, according to Najafizada. The Taliban released Ahmadi approximately three hours later after the broadcaster communicated with the Taliban cultural commission, according to Najafizada. The Taliban returned Ahmadi’s camera with the footage of the protests intact, he said.
Also at approximately 11:00 a.m. yesterday, Taliban fighters detained two additional journalists with a local broadcaster reporting on the protest as they approached the presidential palace, according to the journalists, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal by the Taliban.
Taliban fighters shoved the journalists to the ground and used their microphone to beat both of the journalists on their heads, breaking the microphone, they said.
The two were handcuffed and taken to an office of the National Directorate of Security, the journalist said. While in custody, Taliban fighters shoved both the journalists to the ground and beat and kicked the first journalist on his head, shoulders, back, and legs, and the second journalist on his arm, head, chest, and back, they said. They also threatened to beat them with metal and electric tools, they added. Taliban fighters also slapped the first across the face, he said.
The two were released at approximately 1:30 p.m., they said, adding that the Taliban fighters returned their camera but kept its memory card and their microphone. The first journalist visited a hospital and was prescribed painkillers and muscle relaxants, according to the journalist and a copy of the prescription, which CPJ reviewed. The second journalist sustained bruising on his head and a cut on his elbow, but did not seek medical attention, he said.
At approximately 12:30 p.m. yesterday, Taliban fighters also detained Mirzahussain Sadid, a correspondent with Afghan Notes, a project of the U.S.-based content creation agency Fasila, according to a tweet by Afghan Notes and Brian Conley and Mohammad Aliraza, the heads of Afghan Notes, who spoke with CPJ via phone. Conley said that the project would officially launch later this month.
Sadid was filming and taking pictures of demonstrators in Kabul with his phone when Taliban fighters beat him and took him to the previous office of the interior ministry, according to those sources. Conley and Aliraza did not provide additional details of the beating. The Taliban did not return Sadid’s phone that they seized during his arrest, Aliraza said, adding that Sadid was released at around 8:30 p.m. yesterday.
At approximately 1:00 p.m. yesterday, Taliban fighters detained another journalist with an international broadcaster while he was filming the protest with his phone in Zanbaq Square and dragged him into an office of the National Directorate of Security, according to the journalist, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal by the Taliban. While in custody, the fighters pointed their guns at the journalist’s head, and threatened that if he published a report about the Taliban, they would shoot him in the head, he said. The journalist was released approximately two hours later, he said, adding that he was not beaten and did not sustain any physical injuries, but was left psychologically shaken.
Separately, CPJ is investigating a report from The Associated Press that Taliban fighters detained an additional journalist and forced him to rub his nose on the ground and apologize for covering the Kabul protest yesterday before releasing him.
CPJ is also investigating an incident alleged in a tweet by Ezzatullah Mehrdad, a reporter covering Afghanistan for The Washington Post, that Taliban fighters detained Mortaza Samadi, a freelance photographer, while he was covering a protest against the group yesterday in the western Herat city. The Taliban accused him of being a “leader of the protesters and chanting deaths to the Emirate,” according to the tweet. As of today, Samadi remains in the Taliban’s custody, according to a person familiar with the case, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal by the Taliban.
- Impact of Event
- 8
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 14, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 4, 2021
- Event Description
Taliban officials have broken up a demonstration by dozens of women in Kabul demanding rights following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.
The group say the Taliban targeted them with tear gas and pepper spray as they tried to walk from a bridge to the presidential palace.
But the Taliban maintain the protest got out of control, according to Afghan media outlet Tolo News.
It's the latest of several protests by women in Kabul and Herat.
The women were calling for the right to work and to be included in the government. The Taliban say they will announce the make-up of their administration in the coming days.
The Taliban have said women can be involved in government, but not hold ministerial positions.
Many women fear a return to the way they were treated when the Taliban were previously in power, between 1996 and 2001. Women were forced to cover their faces outside, and harsh punishments were meted out for minor transgressions.
"Twenty-five years ago, when the Taliban came, they prevented me from going to school," journalist Azita Nazimi told Tolo.
"After five years of their rule, I studied for 25 years and worked hard. For the sake of our better future, we will not allow this to happen."
Another demonstrator, Soraya, told Reuters: "They also hit women on the head with a gun magazine, and the women became bloody."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest, Women's rights
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 14, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Aug 25, 2021
- Event Description
TOLOnews reporter Ziar Yaad and his cameraman were beaten on Wednesday by the Taliban in Kabul city while they were working on a report.
Yaad and his cameraman Baes Majidi were filming footage of jobless people and laborers in Haji Yaqoob square in the Shahr-e-Naw area of Kabul city when the Taliban beat them for unclear reasons.
Yaad was working on a report about the increase of unemployed people in Kabul.
“While we were taking footage, Taliban came and-- without asking us who we were--made a noise and took my mobile phone and the camera of my cameraman,” Yaad said. “We showed our reporter badges but they came and slapped us and beat us with their guns.”
“They took my mobile and our work equipment with them,” he said.
A number of journalists have urged the Taliban to support the media.
Since the Taliban took control of 33 provinces and Kabul city, several reporters have been beaten by the Taliban.
“The Taliban’s clash with journalists has been a concern for all reporters since they took control of Afghanistan and Kabul,” said Parwiz Aminzada, the deputy head of a journalist’s association in Parwan province.
Journalist Hizbullah Rohani said: “This is a matter of great concern for Afghan journalists, and we urge the Islamic Emirate to address these issues.”
In the meantime, Ahmadullah Wasiq, deputy head of the Taliban’s cultural commission, said that the Taliban is "seriously" following the incident with Yaad, and officials will determine why the incident happened.
“Not only this, but we will also investigate and solve any issues in the way of the journalists,” he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 2, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Aug 26, 2021
- Event Description
Afghan journalist Ali Reza Ahmadi, who was reporting from the chaotic scenes at Kabul airport, was among those killed in the deadly bombing outside the Kabul airport on August 26. Another journalist Juhad Hamidi also died the same day at the airport. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Afghanistan affiliates, the Afghan Independent Journalists’ Association (AIJA) and the Afghanistan’s National Journalists Union (ANJU) continue to draw attention to the plight of the country’s media and the future for freedom of expression.
Ali Reza Ahmadi, a reporter for the Raha news agency was killed in the Kabul airport suicide bombing on August 26, which also claimed the lives 170 people, including 13 US service members.
The Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) claimed responsibility for the bombing. Video shot by Afghan journalists showed dozens of bodies strewn around a canal on the edge of the airport.
The AIJA reported that journalist Juhad Hamidi, a presenter of the Jahan Television, was among those killed though it is not clear if he was reporting or also among those trying to evacuate.
Due to the increased panic and desperation amongst Afghanistan’s media community as the deadline looms for the US evacuation on August 31, thousands of Afghani media workers have pleaded for evacuation from the country, fearing the repercussions of their reporting.
The IFJ and its affiliates have logged more than 2,000 requests for assistance from media workers trying to flee the country.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Extremist group
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 2, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Aug 18, 2021
- Event Description
The Taliban are continuing to consolidate power in Afghanistan amid reports of violence against protesters in the eastern part of the country, a day after the Islamist group announced the “war is over” and there would be no retribution.
Witnesses say Taliban insurgents fired into the air and beat people with batons in the city of Jalalabad, where a group of demonstrators tried to take down a Taliban flag and replace it with the Afghan national flag Wednesday. At least three people were killed and many other injured. The Taliban did not comment on the matter.
The Taliban on Tuesday vowed to respect women's rights “within Islamic law” and form an “inclusive Islamic” government.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted late Wednesday that the United States and its partners in the world were calling on those in power in Afghanistan to guarantee the rights and protection of women and girls in the country.
“We will monitor closely how any future government ensures their rights and freedoms,” he wrote.
The Afghanistan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA), an IFJ affiliate, also reported that Ariana TV cameraperson Mahmoud Naimi and Pajhwok News cameraperson Babrak Amirzadeh were beaten up by Taliban militants in Jalalabad, in Nangarhar province, on August 18 as they reported on a protest against the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan. The AIJA also informed that Ahmad Navid Kavosh, a Khorshid TV journalist, was beaten up at Hamid Karzai airport while trying to interview a Taliban member.
The intimidation and attacks on journalists have taken place despite reassuring messages towards the press by Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid during his first press conference on August 17, following the Taliban occupation of Kabul a day earlier.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 23, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Aug 1, 2021
- Event Description
Taliban militants shot at a car carrying journalists Shakib Shams and Storio Karimi on August 1 in the Pol-e Malan area of Herat Province. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliates the Afghan Independent Journalist Association (AIJA) and Afghanistan's National Journalists Union (ANJU) remain gravely concerned by the increased security threat on journalists in the country and call for both government forces and the Taliban to cease targeting civilians.
According to AIJA, on August 1, Taliban militants fired on the car of Shams and Karimi as they reported on fighting between Afghan National Security Forces and Taliban militants. Shams is a reporter with Salam Watandar while his wife Karimi, also works for of Pajhwok Afghan News. After militants shot at the car, the journalists were briefly abducted and taken to the militant’s self-proclaimed district governor.
It is alleged that Taliban leaders questioned the journalists, checked their contacts and mobile calls and released them after 20 minutes. “They released us once they were sure that we were journalists and we had visited the area just for news reporting,” Shakib Shams told AIJA. The journalists were released through the mediation of Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesperson. According to the ANJU, the couple is now very likely to flee their home out of fear of potential future attacks.
Large numbers of civilians, including journalists, are living in fear as fighting escalates in Afghanistan’s western province of Herat. The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) reports that since the Taliban’s offensive commenced in early May, many government employees, journalists, activists, tribal elders, and religious figures have been targeted or killed.
On July 26,four Afghan journalists - Bismillah Watandoost, Qudrat Soltani, Mujib Obaidi, and Sanaullah Siam - were arrested by Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS). Danish Siddiqui, an Indian photojournalist with Reuters, was killed in crossfire while covering a battle between Afghan security forces and Taliban militants in Kandahar province on July 16. On July 14, AIJA reported that Fazlullah Erfan, the editor-in-chief of Gag-e-Islah radio programs, was seriously injured in an explosion targeting a police vehicle in Jalalabad.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Extremist group
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 8, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jul 16, 2021
- Event Description
Officials in Afghanistan said Friday an international award-winning journalist from India had been killed during pre-dawn fighting in embattled southern Kandahar province.
Danish Seddiqi, a Reuters photojournalist and Pulitzer Prize winner, was covering clashes between Afghan government forces and the Taliban in Spin Boldak district, which fell to the insurgents earlier in the week.
“Deeply disturbed by the sad news of the killing of a friend, Danish Seddiqi in Kandahar last night,” tweeted Farid Mamundzay, Kabul’s ambassador to New Delhi.
“The Indian Journalist & winner of Pulitzer Prize was embedded with Afghan security forces. I met him 2 weeks ago before his departure to Kabul. Condolences to his family & Reuters,” added Mamundzay.
Seddiqi last tweeted from Kandahar on July 13, when Afghan forces launched a counteroffensive to try to retake Spin Boldak.
The slain photojournalist was based in the Indian city of Mumbai and won the Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for feature photography on the Rohingya refugee crisis.
"We are urgently seeking more information, working with authorities in the region," Reuters President Michael Friedenberg and Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni said in a statement.
"Danish was an outstanding journalist, a devoted husband and father, and a much-loved colleague. Our thoughts are with his family at this terrible time.”
Seddiqi told Reuters he had been wounded in the arm by shrapnel earlier on Friday while reporting on the clash. He was treated and had been recovering when Taliban fighters retreated from the fighting in Spin Boldak.
Among other major events he covered were the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests in 2019 and 2020, and the Nepal earthquake in 2015. At home, Seddiqi extensively reported on India’s COVID-19 pandemic.
Global and local media watchdogs list Afghanistan as one of the dangerous countries for journalists.
Spin Boldak is a major border crossing between landlocked Afghanistan and Pakistan, facilitating travel and trade activities.
The insurgents have recently captured Afghanistan’s seven trade routes with neighboring countries, including Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, China, Iran and Pakistan.
The Taliban have stepped up battlefield attacks since the United States and NATO-allied militaries formally began withdrawing from Afghanistan on May 1, overrunning scores of districts and dramatically expanding insurgent influence to wide swaths of the country.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Artist, Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Extremist group
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 17, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jun 3, 2021
- Event Description
Afghan authorities should launch a thorough and credible investigation into the killing of journalist Mina Khairi, determine if she was targeted for her work, and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
On the evening of June 3, in Kabul, the capital, unidentified attackers detonated an improvised explosive device attached to a van carrying Khairi, an anchor at the local broadcaster Ariana News TV, according to news reports and Ahmad Farshad Saleh, a news manager at Ariana News TV, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview.
The explosion killed Khairi, her mother, and two other passengers, and also injured the journalist’s sister, according to those sources; no group has claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Saleh told CPJ that other employees at the station had recently received threats, but he was not aware of any threats made to Khairi.
“Afghan authorities must thoroughly investigate the killing of Ariana News TV anchor Mina Khairi, determine if she was targeted for her work, and ensure that her killers face justice,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Establishing a safe environment for journalists in Afghanistan is critical to maintaining press freedom in the country, and holding attackers to account is the only way for authorities to show that they are taking these cases seriously.”
Khairi, 23, joined Ariana News TV in May 2017 and hosted general news and political affairs shows, Saleh told CPJ. Ariana News TV part of Ariana Television, a privately owned news and entertainment broadcaster, according to its website, which says that the outlet focuses on covering “education, health, children’s programming, women’s and world issues.”
Saleh said he believed that killing was an attempt by some group to create panic among journalists and dissuade them from reporting the news.
CPJ has documented the killing of at least one other journalist in Afghanistan this year, and is continuing to investigate the motive of that attack.
CPJ emailed the Kabul police for comment, but did not immediately receive any reply.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 30, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Dec 24, 2020
- Event Description
On 24 December, in Deh Naw village, Hesa-i-Awal Kohistan district, Kapisa province, gunmen shot and killed civil society activist Freshta Kohistani. Civil society and media indicated that Kohistani had previously posted on her social media account about threats received. There was no claim of responsibility for the attack. On 28 December, security officials reported having arrested suspects involved in the attack.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Death, Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 16, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jul 1, 2020
- Event Description
On 1 July, in Farah city, gunmen shot and killed the spokesperson of the Farah Civil Society Network Hamidullah Rahmani. He was also a teacher, an elder and the head of the Teachers’ Association. He had reportedly previously asked the National Directorate of Security to provide security for him. There was no claim of responsibility for the attack.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death, Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 12, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- May 21, 2020
- Event Description
On 21 May, in Qalat city, gunmen shot and injured human rights defender Mohammad Ibrahim Ebrat. Ebrat, the coordinator for Zabul of the Civil Society Joint Working Group, died of his injuries on 28 May. Before the attack, reportedly Ebrat had received death threats from the Taliban, who urged him to cease his human rights work. There was no claim of responsibility for the attack.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death, Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Suspected non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 12, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Feb 25, 2021
- Event Description
The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) says that a Taliban commander killed three family members of a slain journalist in the central province of Ghor.
Journalist Bismillah Adel Aimaq, the editor-in-chief of a private radio station in Ghor Province, was shot dead by unknown gunmen on January 1.
On February 25, armed men attacked the house of Aimaq's father on the outskirts of the city of Firoz Koh. The motive for the attack was not immediately clear.
Alongside the three deaths, the AIHRC said on February 28 that Taliban gunmen involved in the attack also wounded four people and abducted three other members of the family.
The AIHRC has called on the authorities to investigate the case.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack on Aimaq's family. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on February 26 denied that the militant group was involved in the assault.
Attacks against journalists have increased in recent months.
According to Media in Afghanistan, a Kabul-based media watchdog and advocacy group, at least 11 media workers were killed in Afghanistan in 2020.
The Afghan government blames the Taliban. But the militant group denies involvement.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says Afghanistan is now one of the world's most dangerous places for journalists.
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Afghanistan: media worker and rights advocate killed
- Date added
- Mar 3, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Dec 21, 2020
- Event Description
Afghan authorities must thoroughly investigate the killing of journalist Rahmatullah Nikzad and do everything in their power to ensure that members of the press can work safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
This evening, in the central Afghan city of Ghazni, unidentified gunmen shot Nikzad, a freelance photojournalist who contributed to The Associated Press and Al-Jazeera, three times in the chest while he was leaving his home to go to a local mosque, according to the AP, Al-Jazeera, and other news reports. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to those reports.
Nikzad was also the head of the Ghazni Journalists’ Union, which represented press workers in Ghazni province, those reports said.
“Rahmatullah Nikzad’s crucial work documenting the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan has been brought to a tragic end by this brutal killing,” said Aliya Iftikhar, CPJ’s senior Asia researcher. “The recent spate of killings of journalists in Afghanistan is unacceptable and the Afghan government must redouble efforts to ensure justice and safety for members of the media.”
Nikzad had received threats from different sources over the years, and had notified local and national officials about them, Abdul Mujeeb Khalvatgar, director of the Afghan press freedom organization NAI, told CPJ in a phone interview.
Khalvatgar said that many of the threats came from local Taliban members upset with Nikzad’s work for international outlets, as well as his work with the journalist union.
Khalvatgar and Najib Sharifi, director of the Afghan Journalist Safety Committee, another local press freedom organization, who also spoke to CPJ via phone, both said they believed Nikzad was killed because of his work.
The Taliban, which controls large parts of Ghazni province, denied responsibility for the attack, according to those news reports.
Ghazni Police Chief Khalid Wardak and a spokesperson for the president’s office did not immediately respond to CPJ’s requests for comment sent via messaging app.
In November, reporter Elyas Dayee was killed in a bomb attack in Helmand province, and on December 10, journalist Malalai Maiwand was shot and killed in Nangarhar province, as CPJ documented at the time.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death, Intimidation and Threats, Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Suspected non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 8, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jan 1, 2021
- Event Description
An Afghan journalist and human rights activist was shot and killed Friday by unidentified gunmen in western Afghanistan, the fifth journalist to be killed in the war-ravaged country in the past two months, a provincial spokesman said.
Bismillah Adil Aimaq was on the road near Feroz Koh, the provincial capital of Ghor, returning home to the city after visiting his family in a village nearby, when gunmen opened fire at the vehicle.
According to the provincial governor's spokesman, Arif Abir, others in the car, including Aimaq's brother, were unharmed. Aimaq worked as the head of the local Radio Sada-e-Ghor station and was also a human rights activist in the province.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the shooting. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid insisted the insurgents were in no way connected with the shooting.
Aimaq was the fifth journalist slain in attacks in the past two months. Last week, Rahmatullah Nekzad, who headed the journalists' union in eastern Ghazni province, was killed in an attack by armed men outside his home. Nekzad was well known in the area and had contributed to The Associated Press since 2007. He had previously worked for the Al Jazeera satellite TV channel.
Afghanistan's intelligence department said two perpetrators in that attack were subsequently arrested and it aired video recordings of the two, with their purported confessions to the slaying and to being Taliban members. However, the Taliban denied involvement in the killing, calling it a cowardly act. Large swaths of Ghazni province are under Taliban control.
The Islamic State group, blamed for a series of attacks on a variety of targets in Afghanistan in recent months, said it had killed another Afghan journalist earlier in December. Two assailants opened fire and killed TV anchorwoman Malala Maiwand as she left her house in eastern Nangarhar province. Her driver also was killed.
In November, two journalists were killed in separate bombings.
Rights groups react
The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned the relentless attacks on journalists in Afghanistan. The international press freedom group Reporters Without Borders has called the country one of the world's deadliest for journalists.
Earlier this week, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission said the targeted killings of Afghan journalists have negatively impacted reporting in the country and led to self-censorship in the media community. The statement said several female journalists have left their jobs in the provinces because of ongoing threats.
The statement further said most journalists are not able to go out openly in some provinces, and that the government has been negligent when they reported the threats they were facing.
Targeted killings and violence have increased across Afghanistan even as the Taliban and Kabul government continue to hold peace negotiations that began in September. The talks, after some recent procedural progress, have been suspended until early January, and there is speculation the resumption could be further delayed.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Afghanistan: media worker and rights advocate killed
- Date added
- Jan 8, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Dec 10, 2020
- Event Description
Malala Maiwand, 25, a female TV anchor for Enkaas TV and Radio, was killed by gunmen in a targeted attack in Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan on December 10. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Afghanistan affiliate, the Afghan Independent Journalists’ Association (AIJA) condemn the brutal killing and urge authorities to take swift and meaningful action to ensure the safety of journalists in Afghanistan.
The assailants opened fire on Malala Maiwand's car as she left to travel to work in Jalalabad from her home in eastern Nangarhar province. Both Malala and her driver, Mohammad Tahir, were killed. Following the shooting, the assailants fled the scene. The Islamic State (IS) has since claimed responsibility for the shooting, terming her a “pro-regime” journalist. Nangarhar is well known for IS militant activity and the group claimed responsibility for most of the recent attacks on civilians in the area.
Tragically, Malala’s murder happened on the last day of the UN global annual 16 days of activism campaign against violence against women.Known as a women’s rights activist, Malala had previously delivered a speech about the challenges for female journalists in Afghanistan. Her mother, who was also a women’s right activist, was shot dead by unknown assailants five years ago.
The targeted killing is the first since the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) issued a joint statement on December 7 condemning attacks on journalists and religious leaders.
Malala is the fourth Journalist to be killed in Afghanistan in 2020. On November 12, Elias Daei, 33-year-old correspondent for US-funded Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) was killed in an targeted explosion in Helmand province. Former television presenter Yama Siawash was killed in the explosion in Makrorayan-e-Char area of Kabul on November 7. Earlier in the year on May 30, Khurshid TV journalist Zamir Amiri was killed when a roadside bomb exploded targeting the bus carrying Khurshid TV station employees. According to the IFJ South Asia Press Freedom Report, six journalists were killed in Afghanistan in 2019.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Death, Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Extremist group
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 8, 2021
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Nov 11, 2020
- Event Description
An improvised explosive device (IED) attached to the car of Elyas Dayee, a reporter with Azadi Radio, exploded and killed him on November 11, 2020 in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, Human Rights Watch said today.
Although the Taliban have not issued any statement about the attack, Dayee had recently told Human Rights Watch that he had received numerous death threats warning him to stop his reporting on Taliban military operations. The Taliban frequently uses IEDs to carry out targeted attacks on civilians, which are war crimes.
“The killing of Elyas Dayee simply for doing his job sends a chilling message to the Afghan media that reporting on the Taliban puts them in grave danger,” said Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “This brutal killing of a journalist is nothing more than a cold-blooded execution and raises serious doubts about the protection of free expression in any peace deal with the Taliban.”
Dayee is one of dozens of Afghan journalists who in recent months have increasingly received threats from the Taliban. Many have told Human Rights Watch that they had also been warned not to report on Taliban activities.
Journalists who knew Dayee, 33, said that in the weeks before the attack, the Taliban had searched Dayee’s house, questioned him about his movements, and asked local residents to report on his behavior. The night before he was killed, Dayee had emailed a colleague saying he believed his life was in danger.
Dayee had told colleagues that, in October, the Taliban had explicitly warned him not to report on the Taliban’s recent operations in Helmand province or on any loss of territory or deaths of Taliban fighters, or to suggest that the Taliban were violating the agreement with the United States on the terms of the US withdrawal.
On November 12, the Taliban issued a statement accusing the Afghan media of engaging in “enemy propaganda” and defamation against the Taliban.
Residents of Taliban-held areas have long expressed fear of retaliation if they complain about the way Taliban forces carry out military operations or enforce restrictions. In a report released in June, Human Rights Watch said the Taliban have imposed severe restrictions in areas under their control despite claims of reform, and have placed severe limits on freedom of expression and the media.
The Taliban assert that they hold commanders and other authorities accountable for abuses, but Taliban officials have seldom considered practices amounting to war crimes, including unlawful attacks on civilians, to be wrongful acts.
The Taliban should immediately cease all threats and attacks on the media, and all acts of intimidation, harassment, and summary punishment of residents who have criticized Taliban policies, Human Rights Watch said. Countries supporting the Afghan peace negotiations in Doha should condemn these attacks and press the Taliban to publicly commit to ending all attacks on the media and to uphold freedom of expression in any settlement.
“The Taliban appear emboldened by the peace talks to commit deadly abuses without fear of being held accountable,” Gossman said. “Countries supporting the talks need to press for effective protections for the media throughout Afghanistan.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death, Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Suspected non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 15, 2020
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Aug 14, 2020
- Event Description
A female member of Afghanistan’s peace negotiating team has been slightly wounded in an assassination attempt, officials say.
Fawzia Koofi, who is also a former parliamentarian, was attacked on Friday afternoon near the capital, Kabul, while returning from a visit to the northern province of Parwan.
Koofi is part of a 21-member team charged with representing the Afghan government in upcoming peace talks with the Taliban, following a US deal with the militants that was struck in February.
The head of the Afghan peace delegation, Mohammed Masoom Stanekzai, wrote that Koofi had survived the attack and was “in good health”. 'Peace where rights aren’t trampled': Afghan women's demands ahead of Taliban talks Read more
Fawzia Koofi and her sister Maryam Koofi stopped at a market in the Qarabagh district when gunmen attacked them, said Tariq Arian, a spokesman for the interior ministry.
Both the Taliban and an Islamic State group affiliate continue to carry out attacks against Afghan government figures, but Zabihullah Maujhid, a Taliban spokesman, denied the group was involved.
Koofi is also a women’s rights activist who has been a vocal Taliban critic. A message on her Facebook page said she suffered a wound to her right arm. “Thankfully not a life threatening injury.”
Arian said police were launching an investigation. No further details of the assault were available, he said.
The US peace deal aims to recruit the Taliban to fight Islamic State militants in Afghanistan. The Taliban and IS are enemies.
The peace deal also paved the way for US and Nato forces to begin withdrawing from Afghanistan, and for the Taliban and Afghan government to begin direct talks.
The Afghan government said on Friday that it had released the first 80 of a final 400 Taliban prisoners ahead of direct negotiations between the two sides.
Prisoner releases on both sides are part of the agreement signed in February between the US and the Taliban. It calls for the release of 5,000 Taliban held by the government and 1,000 government and military personnel held by the insurgent group as a goodwill gesture ahead of intra-Afghan negotiations.
Talks are expected to be held in Qatar, where the Taliban maintain a political office. Several Afghan leaders told the Associated Press talks could begin by 20 August.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Suspected non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 27, 2020
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Aug 27, 2020
- Event Description
Saba Sahar, an Afghan filmmaker and actress, was shot on her way to work on Tuesday.
According to the BBC, Sahar was in her car in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, when she was shot several times. Her husband, Emal Zaki, told the outlet three gunmen opened fired.
The 44-year-old, who is also a police officer and a women's rights advocate, was rushed to the hospital.
Sahar's husband said there were other people in the car as well: the driver, two bodyguards (who also got shot) and a child. The driver and the child weren't hit and the report didn't clarify if the child was Sahar's.
"I reached the scene and found them all wounded," Zaki recalled. He said he could hear the gunshots. "She received first aid and we transferred her to the emergency hospital and then to the police hospital," he continued.
According to her husband, Sahar was shot in the stomach and underwent successful surgery.
"The Law" filmmaker is one of Afghanistan's first female film directors, according to the BBC.
In a tweet after the attack, Amnesty International South Asia wrote: "Afghanistan: The rise in attacks and assassination attempts on human rights defenders, political activists, journalists and film actors is extremely worrying.
"These attacks must be investigated and the perpetrators held accountable. The authorities must protect everyone at risk," it continued.
Sahar previously spoke to The Guardian in 2012 about her work.
"I want to show that Afghan women are capable of doing anything men do," she explained.
"I want to show the conservatives who lock their daughters and wives at home that they should let them out to get an education, earn some money and help rebuild Afghanistan," Sahar continued.
"Every morning when I leave the house, I know I might get killed, might never see my family again," she revealed.
"Making movies is my love," described Sahar. "I love my country. I want to show people that there's more to Afghanistan than fighting, drugs and terrorism. If I die for asking for my rights and inspiring other women to fight for theirs, then I'm ready to lose my life."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Women's rights
- HRD
- Artist, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Extremist group
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 27, 2020
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Aug 1, 2020
- Event Description
Afghanistan government must bring to justice perpetrators of the attack on Asmatullah Salaam a Civil Society Activist and Head of Local Council in Andar District of Ghazni Province.
Safety and Risk Mitigation Organization (SRMO) strongly condemns the killing of Mr Salaam and demand the Afghan government to bring the perpetrators to justice.
According to the report, Mr Salaam was travelling to visit his relatives during the second day of Eid (1st of August 2020) in Khwzeyo village in Andar District of Ghanzni Province, where Taliban stopped his car, kidnapped him and his body was recovered a day later on 2nd August in Wahghez District with severe sings of torture.
SRMO stresses the urgency for the protection of the Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) in Afghanistan as the organization has documented a worrying trend of increasing targeted attacks against the HRDs by Taliban across Afghanistan. This is a continuation of a series of violent attacks against human rights defenders including Women Human Rights Defenders, civil society activists and media workers which have been carried out with impunity. Despite the fact that the Afghanistan government launched the Human Rights Defenders Protection Strategy in January 2020, the government has failed g to investigate such crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice.
These attacks deliberately targeting the HRDs have a chilling effect on the wider community of human rights activists and civil society in Afghanistan who have already reported shrinking of their space to express opinion and hold the powerful to account.
Taliban announced ceasefire during the Eid in Afghanistan but it did not stop conducting deliberate and targeted attacks such as this incident, on Afghan HRDs, CSOs and other civilians. In the context of the upcoming peace talks between the Afghanistan Government and the Taliban, the role of civil society and HRDs is extremely vital as they bring the voice and speak out in defence of the rights and freedoms of Afghan society and victims, which is important to end the cycle of violence and reach a sustainable peace in Afghanistan. HRDs must never be targeted for simply carrying out their legitimate and peaceful work to promote and protect the human rights of Afghan people. The deliberate attack on HRDs in the context of the armed conflict constitutes a war crime.
SRMO is calling on Afghan government to do everything to protect Human Rights Defenders and Women Human Rights Defenders in Afghanistan and bring the perpetrators of such crimes to justice.
SRMO is also calling on Taliban to do everything to refrain its fighters from attacking HRDs, WHRDs, CSOs members and media workers in Afghanistan and punish the ones who are deliberately attacking, threatening and killing Afghan civilians including HRDs, WHRDs, CSOs members and media workers.
International and diplomatic community must put pressure on Afghan government to take the protection of Afghan HRDs seriously and bring the perpetrators of crimes against HRDs to justice.
In a previous attack on human rights defenders, Taliban targeted two staff members of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) in Kabul on 27 of June 2020; and on 3rd June 2020 Mr. Ibrahim Ebrat, a local civil society activist was killed in Qalat city of Zabul province. To date no investigation or arrests were made in connection to his killing despite promises by the government to do so.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death, Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Extremist group
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jun 27, 2020
- Event Description
It is with deep regret that the AIHRC announces that its employees lost their lives when their car was targeted by an IED in Kabul this morning, Saturday, 27 June, 2020. They were Fatima Khalil, a Donor Liaison Officer and Jawid Folad, a driver. They were traveling in a Commission shuttle taking them to the office early this morning when the vehicle was struck by an IED at Butkhak Square, District, 12.
AHIRC sends deepest condolences to the families of these respected colleagues. The Commission is shocked by their killing which goes against the teachings of Islam, the Constitution, and International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law.
Ms Khalil was a young human rights defender at the beginning of her career. That she will not be able to fulfill her enormous potential is a tragedy. Mr Folad was one of the Commission�s longest serving and loyal drivers.
We condemn such a heinous attack on our employees in the strongest possible terms. As of now, no group has claimed the responsibility of the attack and the perpetrators have not been identified yet. Those responsible should be identified after an investigation and brought to justice for committing this terrible crime.
This is not the first time that Commission staff have been targeted and paid the ultimate sacrifice. Last September, Abdul Samad Ameri, the Acting Head of the Ghor Provincial Office was abducted on the Kabul-Ghor highway in Maidan Wardak Province and killed two days later by gunfire.
In previous years other AIHRC personnel have also lost their lives in targeted attacks. This forms a pattern of attacks on a constitutionally mandated national human rights institution that is unparalleled. It is intolerable. In the context of armed conflict deliberately killing human rights defenders is a war crime.
AIHRC assures all Afghans that it remains committed to promoting and protecting human rights in Afghanistan.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Death, Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- NHRI/ NHRI staff, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jun 24, 2020
- Event Description
Free media support organization, NAI, on Wednesday the summoning of Pajhwok Afghan News editor in chief to the Wolesi Jirga in connection with a report on smuggling of 32 ventilators was against the law.
In a statement, NAI said that every complaint from media should be addressed through Media Complaints and Investigation Commission.
The statement read: �On Wednesday Pajhwok Afghan News head Danish Karokhel was summoned to the Wolesi Jirga and was asked to provide explanation regarding the smuggling report of 32 ventilators published by his organization.�
NAI believed this act of Wolesi Jirga was against the media law, which has been approved by the parliament.
Separately, First Vice President Amrullah Saleh in a tweet rejected smuggling of ventilators to Pakistan.
He wrote: �NO ventilator is missing from the inventory of the Ministry of Health in Kabul or provinces. NONE. Don't fall in the trap of lies & falsehood. When someone tells you that your nose was stolen by the cat touch your nose first before chasing the onlooking cat. Calm down.�
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- May 1, 2020
- Event Description
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Afghan authorities to protect Vida Saghari, a journalist and women�s rights activist who is being threatened by a fundamentalist cleric in the western city of Herat because she criticized him for holding a religious gathering in violation of the coronavirus lockdown.
Saghari became the target of Mullah Mujib Alrahman Ansari�s anger after she, like many other social media users, posted critical comments on Facebook alongside a photo of the gathering of around 100 Muslims that he organized in Herat on the first day or Ramadan, 1 May, ignoring a ban on religious gatherings by claiming that �the coronavirus is for infidels, not for Muslims.�
The outcry about the gathering is all the greater because Herat is the epicentre of the Covid-19 epidemic in Afghanistan. It was to the epidemic�s many victims that Saghari alluded when she wrote, �Ask the gravediggers to dig a tomb for Mullah Mujib Alrahman Ansari, this ignorant plague lord who wants people to die.� She added that �people have a normal brain� and the leaders who guide them must be �responsible.�
Within hours, Ansari responded with a Facebook post attacking Saghari: �Who holds the leash on Vida Saghari, this woman who poses as a civil society activist in Kabul? Sorry, I�m going to be insulting about her. She is impolite and unveiled, ugly words issue from her mouth and witnesses say she prostitutes herself (...) She has written several times about me and Muslims in the past few days, saying we must not pray together because our gatherings will spread the coronavirus. Vida Saghari is more dangerous than the virus.�
The post marked the start of a violent cyber-harassment campaign against Saghari, who has been the target of hate speech, insults and death threats by Ansari�s supporters on social media ever since.
Ansari often expresses reactionary and misogynistic views. In January, he created a �committee for the regulation of good and the prohibition of evil� with the aim of enforcing the Sharia in Herat. The committee took a particular interest in women, calling for them to wear the veil and not work outside the home. He banned women from attending a press conference on 16 January on the grounds that �Islam does not allow women to be present at work alongside men.�
�In response to the behaviour of the fundamentalists and the threats to press freedom, which the constitution guarantees, the silence of the Afghan authorities is unacceptable,� said Reza Moini, the head of RSF�s Afghanistan/Iran desk. �Whether or not you appreciate Vida Saghari�s criticism, the harassment and attacks to which she has been subjected are completely intolerable and everything must be done to guarantee her protection.�
The Centre for the Protection of Afghan Women Journalists (CPAWJ), which is also calling for protection for Saghari, points that more that 20% of women journalists have lost their jobs since the start of the lockdown.
Afghanistan is ranked 122nd out of 180 countries in RSF�s 2020 World Press Freedom Index.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Gender Based Harassment, Online Attack and Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Online, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Extremist group
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Nov 21, 2019
- Event Description
Afghanistan's intelligence agency has publicly acknowledged that it is holding two activists who exposed allegations of sexual abuse of children in eastern Afghanistan.
Human rights groups and others have been pointing fingers at the National Directorate for Security since the activists, Musa Mahmoudi and Ehsanullah Hamidi, disappeared on November 21.
The two had revealed that at least 546 boys from six schools in Logar province were abused by a pedophile ring that included teachers and local government officials.
Their organization, the Logar Youth, Social and Civil Institution, discovered more than 100 videos on Facebook that showed the abuse.
The government is under intense pressure from activists and influential politicians, like former president Hamid Karzai, to release the activists.
The "Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission is deeply concerned about the illegal detention of civil society activists, Mr. Musa Mahmudi and Ehsanullah Hamidi, who were investigating the cases of alleged child sexual abuse in Logar province," tweeted Afghanistan's human rights body.
In its statement Tuesday, the NDS claimed the two were moved to a safe location for protection against threats to their lives. The agency also claimed that the two had revealed during interrogations that they made up the child abuse allegations, in order to get asylum in a foreign country.
The agency also released a video of the two in which one of the activists, Mahmoudi, was seen confessing that his research was incomplete and apologizing to the people of Afghanistan and particularly of Logar province.
Without naming the two, President Ashraf Ghani said Monday that it was not acceptable for asylum seekers to undermine the dignity of Afghans.
Human rights groups are rejecting the government's account.
"Instead of punishing them for speaking out against the sexual abuse of children, the authorities should praise them and hold the perpetrators accountable" tweeted Amnesty International's South Asia office.
Before their detention, the activists had reached out to rights groups and some journalists, expressing concern for their safety.
"Hours before his detention, Mussa told the Guardian (newspaper) how he had been receiving threats and believed he was under surveillance by Afghan security services," reported The Guardian Monday.
According to The Guardian, which broke the story earlier this month, multiple victims have since been murdered, sometimes by their own relatives.
"Five families killed their sons after their faces were seen on videos posted to social media. Two other boys a 13 and 15-year-old were killed last week, although the perpetrators are unknown," the Guardian story said.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- RTI activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 26, 2019
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 29, 2019
- Event Description
Multiple media violations against journalists were recorded during the fourth round of Afghanistan’s presidential elections on Saturday, September 28. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its Afghanistan affiliate, the Afghan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA) in highlighting the challenges for journalists in covering elections and calls for stronger efforts to stop election-related violations that impact the media’s ability to report.
According to AIJA, at least three journalists were attacked during the weekend election, which was covered by local and international media in various parts of Afghanistan. AIJA also fielded at least ten complaints by journalists regarding access to information, access to voting sites and telecommunications shutdowns.
In the early hours of September 29, the journalists Maqbol Noori, of Salam Watandar, reported he was threatened and humiliated and his phone taken when the brother of the chief of the provincial council of Parwan province entered the Jul Saraj voting site with his bodyguards. The incident occurred when the journalist requested to take a picture of him. His phone was later returned when police were called in to intervene.
Blocking of access to reporting was also recorded in the first hours of the election at around 10 am in provinces including Kabul, Khost, Bamyian, Balkh and Faryab. AIJA reported that some issues were resolved with the help of Afghanistan’s election commission and other security agencies. One complaint recorded by journalist Said Ismail Sadat, of Sima radio, in Samangan province was that media were denied access to report during vote counting at a local school voting site at Ajani Malika.
In a statement AIJA said it “appreciates efforts of Independent Election commission for cooperation with media which lead to unprecedented coverage of elections and hopes that these problems will not be seen in future elections.”
The IFJ said: “With further voting still to come in Afghanistan’s presidential election campaign, we call on Afghanistan’s election commission and security forces to ensure that all officials are educated and trained to respect the importance of transparency, safety and access to information for the country’s media during elections.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 4, 2019
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 28, 2019
- Event Description
Multiple media violations against journalists were recorded during the fourth round of Afghanistan’s presidential elections on Saturday, September 28. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its Afghanistan affiliate, the Afghan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA) in highlighting the challenges for journalists in covering elections and calls for stronger efforts to stop election-related violations that impact the media’s ability to report.
According to AIJA, at least three journalists were attacked during the weekend election, which was covered by local and international media in various parts of Afghanistan. AIJA also fielded at least ten complaints by journalists regarding access to information, access to voting sites and telecommunications shutdowns. The reporter Abdul Rahman Hamad, of Kawoon Ghag Radio, was wounded on September 28 in Baghlan province. He was treated in hospital in Kabul, before returning to work.
In the early hours of September 29, a third journalists Maqbol Noori, of Salam Watandar, reported he was threatened and humiliated and his phone taken when the brother of the chief of the provincial council of Parwan province entered the Jul Saraj voting site with his bodyguards. The incident occurred when the journalist requested to take a picture of him. His phone was later returned when police were called in to intervene.
Blocking of access to reporting was also recorded in the first hours of the election at around 10 am in provinces including Kabul, Khost, Bamyian, Balkh and Faryab. AIJA reported that some issues were resolved with the help of Afghanistan’s election commission and other security agencies. One complaint recorded by journalist Said Ismail Sadat, of Sima radio, in Samangan province was that media were denied access to report during vote counting at a local school voting site at Ajani Malika.
In a statement AIJA said it “appreciates efforts of Independent Election commission for cooperation with media which lead to unprecedented coverage of elections and hopes that these problems will not be seen in future elections.”
The IFJ said: “With further voting still to come in Afghanistan’s presidential election campaign, we call on Afghanistan’s election commission and security forces to ensure that all officials are educated and trained to respect the importance of transparency, safety and access to information for the country’s media during elections.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 4, 2019
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 27, 2019
- Event Description
Multiple media violations against journalists were recorded during the fourth round of Afghanistan’s presidential elections on Saturday, September 28. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its Afghanistan affiliate, the Afghan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA) in highlighting the challenges for journalists in covering elections and calls for stronger efforts to stop election-related violations that impact the media’s ability to report.
According to AIJA, at least three journalists were attacked during the weekend election, which was covered by local and international media in various parts of Afghanistan. AIJA also fielded at least ten complaints by journalists regarding access to information, access to voting sites and telecommunications shutdowns.
The first incident occurred the evening ahead of the election at around 5.30pm on Friday, September 27. Rahmatullah Nikzad, a reporter for Al Jazeera TV, was injured when a bullet hit him in his leg in Ghazni province.
Blocking of access to reporting was also recorded in the first hours of the election at around 10 am in provinces including Kabul, Khost, Bamyian, Balkh and Faryab. AIJA reported that some issues were resolved with the help of Afghanistan’s election commission and other security agencies. One complaint recorded by journalist Said Ismail Sadat, of Sima radio, in Samangan province was that media were denied access to report during vote counting at a local school voting site at Ajani Malika.
In a statement AIJA said it “appreciates efforts of Independent Election commission for cooperation with media which lead to unprecedented coverage of elections and hopes that these problems will not be seen in future elections.”
The IFJ said: “With further voting still to come in Afghanistan’s presidential election campaign, we call on Afghanistan’s election commission and security forces to ensure that all officials are educated and trained to respect the importance of transparency, safety and access to information for the country’s media during elections.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 4, 2019
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 4, 2019
- Event Description
The last time Musa Mahmodi saw his friend alive, the young human rights defender said he knew his life was at risk. It was August in Kabul, and Abdul Samad Amiri, 28, had recently traveled the 10 hours east to the capital from his home province of Ghowr, where persistent threats from the Taliban and local militias had created an increasingly volatile environment. “The Taliban was everywhere there, and I was so scared,” Mahmodi, Amiri’s former boss at Afghanistan’s governmental Independent Human Rights Commission, recalled Amiri saying about his journey. Weeks later, on the same road, Amiri was found shot dead, according to Wardak province police spokesman Hekmatullah Durani. The Taliban has not commented publicly on the attack, but Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said Friday that the militants were responsible for his killing and that it amounted to “a crime against humanity.” Amiri’s violent death last week came amid a spike in Taliban violence in the days after the top U.S. negotiator in peace talks with the group said the two sides had reached an agreement “in principle.” On Saturday evening, President Trump unexpectedly called off the talks, saying in a tweet he had canceled plans to “secretly meet” with Ghani and Taliban leaders at Camp David on Sunday over concerns of escalating violence, including a bombing that killed a U.S. service member in Kabul on Thursday. Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen tweeted on Sunday that an agreement between U.S. and Taliban officials had been “finalized” in recent days and the Qatari government planned to announce it, seeming to contradict Trump’s claims. “President Trump’s tweets have been unbelievable and certainly damaged his credibility,” he wrote. In recent days, Afghan officials and civilians have expressed concerns that a U.S. deal with the Taliban that excluded the Afghan government would fail to protect civilians and security forces in the event of a U.S. troop drawdown. Amiri’s killing left his community in Afghanistan reeling over the loss of someone they said was a devoted family man and an energetic, selfless advocate for justice — someone who represented the best of what his generation had to offer. As acting head of the commission’s office in Ghowr, Amiri was aware of the risks his work posed. The commission promotes women’s rights and religious freedoms, and training defense forces and religious scholars in human rights. He had worked extensively on reports about civilian killings in his home region and was responsible for looking into incidents suspected to be perpetrated by the Taliban. That work made him a target of the militant group, which governed Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 and has been fighting the Afghan government and allied forces ever since. The Taliban’s rule was marked by a repressive interpretation of Islamic law that restricted the rights of women and minorities. Four members of the commission for which Amiri worked have been killed in recent years, including a former head of the same office in Ghowr. And just last week, Amnesty International reported that human rights defenders in Afghanistan are “under intensifying attacks from both the authorities and armed groups.” “This is one of the most dangerous moments to be a human rights activist in Afghanistan,” Amnesty International’s deputy South Asia director, Omar Waraich, said in a statement at the time, pointing to others who had been targeted for their work. After Amiri’s death, Amnesty said his killing was “a war crime.” Amiri had recently considered moving to the United States, Mahmodi said, but had changed his mind, compelled to instead continue his investigations in Ghowr and support his sisters’ dreams of graduating from university. In a phone call from India, where she is studying for a master’s degree, his younger sister Atifa said that she was in shock from the news of his death. Boys’ education is often prioritized over that of girls in Afghanistan. But Amiri helped her with chores so she could take college prep courses, she said, then supported her when she decided to pursue further education abroad. “He was not only a brother, he was a friend and supporter,” she said. “I can’t be happy anymore. I am hopeless.” He was recently married, and his wife had just given birth to a baby girl. In a photo his sister shared on social media, he cradles his daughter close to his face, beaming with pride.
Amiri’s killing and a spate of attacks in Kabul in recent days have left civilians here on edge. Last week, the Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack on a Kabul compound housing foreigners that left 16 people, mainly Afghan civilians, dead. On Thursday, the group bombed a busy traffic circle in the capital, killing 10 Afghan civilians and two NATO troops, including an American. Amiri belonged to the minority Hazara ethnic group, a frequent target of Taliban attacks, making him an even more likely mark. In Kabul, members of the Hazara community, most of whom practice Shiite Islam, are bracing for an upcoming holiday, fearing mosques and public gatherings could be targeted. Mahmodi said that as an impartial human rights investigator, Amiri would often attend to the immediate aftermath of serious crimes, risking his own life to ensure justice for the victims. “He was the first to send a report and call an investigator and say, okay, this happened,” Mahmodi said. And he took notice of worrying incidents that others often overlooked — launching, for example, an investigation into an increase in women’s suicides in his province. “His investigations were thorough, his work was very good quality, his reports were credible,” Mahmodi said. “Everything he was doing was very good, and he was also so personally dedicated.” An ardent reader and excellent student, Amiri earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Kabul University before pursuing a career in human rights advocacy, said Khodayar Naiebzada, a childhood friend. In his hometown, Naiebzada said, “the people were proud of him and counted on him.” In a Facebook post last week, Amiri shared a photo of himself standing on a mountaintop in Ghowr. In the caption below, he reflected on how much he’d grown in the seven years since he graduated from university. Through his work and travels, he said, he had gained a better understanding of “the trauma of 40 years of war.” “I believe that we have obligations to our mother country, and whatever I do for my country, though insufficient to what I owe, makes me happy,” he wrote. “Despite the difficulties, I owe my life to this land and will work for its betterment so long as I live.” He was killed shortly after.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death, Intimidation and Threats, Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Freedom of religion/belief activist, Minority rights defender, NHRI/ NHRI staff
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Extremist group
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 1, 2019
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jun 2, 2014
- Event Description
A Jesuit priest from India was kidnapped June 2 as he was leaving a school serving children who were recently returned to Afghanistan after living as refugees in Iran or Pakistan. The Rome headquarters of the Jesuit Refugee Service confirmed that its Afghanistan country director, Jesuit Father Alexis Prem Kumar, "was abducted by a group of unidentified men" as he was leaving a JRS-supported school for returnee refugees in Sohadat village, about 15 miles from the city of Herat in western Afghanistan. "We are deeply shocked by Prem's abduction. We are in contact with all the relevant authorities and doing everything possible to ensure his safe and speedy return," said Jesuit Father Peter Balleis, international director of JRS. Church officials in India expressed concern for the safety of Fr. Prem Kumar, 47, who has worked in Afghanistan since 2011. "We are worried and concerned about the kidnap of Fr. Alexis," Fr. Edward Muduvassery, Jesuit provincial for South Asia, told Catholic News Service June 3 from his office in New Delhi. Fr. Joseph Chinnayan, deputy secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, appealed to the Indian government to quickly to seek the Jesuit's release. Syed Akbaruddin, spokesman for the India's External Affairs Ministry, said via a Twitter post that Indian officials in Herat were pursuing the matter with local authorities, Asian church news portal ucanews.com reported. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the abduction, Fr. Muduvassery said. "We are keeping our fingers crossed and very much concerned about the well being of Father (Prem Kumar)," he said. Before moving to Afghanistan, Fr. Prem Kumar worked for JRS for 12 years, serving Sri Lankan refugees living in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, his home. He was director of JRS in India from June 2005 to May 2011 and then moved to Afghanistan. JRS works in Kabul, Herat, Bamiyan and Day Kundi, supporting government programs in education. "The kidnapping follows the thwarted attack (May 23) on the Indian consulate in Herat by four armed gunmen who were killed by security guards," the JRS press statement said. When asked whether the kidnapping is linked to recent attacks on Indian targets by Taliban forces, Fr. Muduvassery said, "We cannot speculate on anything." "We have no clue so far regarding the kidnappers as there has been no ransom or other calls," he added. The JRS statement said no additional comment would be made until the case is resolved. Jesuit Father Giuseppe Moretti, superior of the Jesuit mission in Afghanistan, told the Vatican's Fides news agency June 3 that "the kidnapping of foreigners happens frequently throughout the country. We know only that he was taken by armed men; it could have been a Taliban faction or common criminals."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of Religion and Belief, Right to education
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 26, 2010
- Event Description
On 26 September 2009, a UK aid worker and three local staff were kidnapped in Afghanistan. They were in a two-car convoy in the eastern province of Kunar when the vehicles were stopped by armed men. The woman, who was employed by US aid group DAI and is thought to have worked for the UN before that, has not been identified. The group was taken away into nearby mountains on foot, and the area was being searched with tribal elders. The US military, which has a strong presence in the area, is also thought to be involved in the search. A farmer witnessed the abduction but the area is so remote that it was two hours before he was able to reported the incident to police.The terrain of the area is difficult and dangerous - it is mountainous and wooded, which would hamper any search efforts from the air. Various armed groups operate in the area and the location of the abduction is not thought to be under government control. Afghans and foreigners can be targeted by gangs seeking ransom money, but they are sometimes sold on to militant groups.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 18, 2010
- Event Description
On 18 September 2010, the bodies of three members of Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) kidnapped in Balkh province during voting on Saturday have been found. Taliban militants had vowed to disrupt the vote for the lower houses of parliament. The discovery of the bodies means at least 17 people were killed on election day in about 445 violent incidents. It comes as a monitoring group raised serious concerns about electoral fraud.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Sep 16, 2010
- Event Description
Afghan election candidates, campaigners and voters have told Amnesty International that they are facing increasing attacks and threats from the Taleban and other insurgent groups in the run-up to Afghanistan's 18 September parliamentary elections. Women candidates are at particular risk and some have told Amnesty International that local security forces refuse to offer them protection and even ridicule them when they do report threats or violence against them. "Two weeks ago the Taleban put a 'night letter' behind my door and in the morning I took it to the local police station but no one wanted to take the threat seriously. One of the police officers told me that if I wanted to run for office then I deserved to be harassed," a female parliamentary candidate told Amnesty International. She asked to remain anonymous, in fear of becoming a target for both police forces and insurgents in her district. Since July, three election candidates and at least 15 campaign workers have been killed, and several injured in failed attempts to assassinate them. At least two candidates were abducted and later released. The Taleban have claimed responsibility for the killing of the three candidates and many of the other attacks on candidates and their campaigners. Amnesty International has urged the Afghan government to ensure equal access to police protection for all candidates based on an objective security assessment, not on gender or political affiliation. "The people of Afghanistan should not have to choose between their safety and participation in public life," said Madhu Malhotra, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Deputy Director. "The Afghan government must take seriously any attacks and threats against candidates, and order prompt and impartial investigations into these abuses when they occur. The Taleban must also immediately stop attacks on civilians, including those involved in the election." Election candidates have told Amnesty International that despite repeated requests for protection from Taleban attacks, Afghan police forces have failed to respond to, or even to investigate, reported violence against candidates. Another female parliamentary candidate, who also wished to remain anonymous, told Amnesty International that she was recently shot and injured by gunmen while campaigning. "The police arrested two people who were found to be linked to a local power holder in a northern province. These people now have been released and I feel extremely frightened," she said. "I have since asked for police protection but haven't received any." The Independent Election Commission (IEC), a government body which oversees the poll, reported on 5 September that at least 938 of the more than 6,800 polling centres throughout Afghanistan will not open due to security concerns. The centres remaining closed are primarily in the south and east of Afghanistan where insurgent groups wield control over vast swathes of these areas. On 13 September the Afghan President's office stated that security forces are completely prepared to ensure safe voting throughout the country. However, according to the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA), an Afghan NGO, candidates in 14 out of 34 provinces have expressed concerns over inadequate security provision at their campaigning venues and other candidates told Amnesty International that they didn't think security provisions were going to be any better on election day. FEFA observers in the eastern province of Nangarhar recently reported large disparities between the protection provided between candidates favoured by local government officials and others. "The Afghan security forces must ensure that voters and candidates are given adequate security and protection based on an objective assessment of need. Everyone, including women, should be able to participate without fear of attacks and threats," said Madhu Malhotra.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- Jul 23, 2019
- Event Description
Safety and Risk Mitigation Organization (SRMO) is condemning the assassination of Saeed Karim Musawi a Human Rights Defender and civil society activist in Kunduz city city on 23 July 2019. Saeed Karim Musawi a known Human Rights Defender and CSO activist was shot and killed by two gunmen who were riding on a motorbike and escaped the scene. He was targeted near his home at Kunduz city Khanabad Bandar square when he was heading home and a police investigation is going on. According to civil society activists from Kunduz, the target of intellectuals is becoming more frequent in the province which is scaring everyone who is critical of the current security and political situation in the province. No one claimed responsibility for the attack so far. Kunduz is one of the insecure provinces in the North of Afghanistan where Taliban managed to take over the city twice between 2015-2016 and Taliban continue to make advances in the province. SRMO is calling on the Afghan government to do investigate the assassination of Mr. Musawi and other intellectuals in the province, bring the perpetrators to justice and use all its resources to ensure the safety and security of Human Rights including Women Rights Defenders, civil society activists and journalists in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the Afghan Civil Society Joined working group in a statement condemned the killing and said this attack indicates that terrorists and Afghanistan enemy has no respect for human rights, Islamic values and freedom of expression, and their main goal is the killing of innocent and impartial individuals of the society. The group emphasizes that according the Islamic and international humanitarian laws, the civil society activists and civilians should not be targeted.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death, Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 19, 2019
- Country
- Afghanistan
- Initial Date
- May 12, 2019
- Event Description
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)A prominent Afghan journalist and parliamentary adviser has been killed in Kabul, an Interior Ministry spokesman told CNN Sunday. Mina Mangal, who had worked as a television presenter for popular Pashto-language channels before entering politics, was gunned down in broad daylight Saturday morning in southeast Kabul, according to ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi. Police investigations are underway to find the attackers who shot Mangal, Rahimi added. The brazen attack sparked an outpouring of anger and sadness from Mangal's colleagues and women's rights activists, who condemned authorities for failing to protect her in the face of threats. Afghan women's rights activist Wazhma Frogh said that Mangal had recently posted on Facebook that she had been receiving threats and feared for her life. "Can't stop my tears at the loss of this beautiful soul. She had a loud voice, & actively raising voice for her people. In this Facebook status she says she's threatened & she says she she trusts her Allah & that a strong woman isn't scared of death. RIP Mina Mangal," Frogh said in a post on Twitter. Mangal, herself a staunch supporter of women's rights to education and work, had recently become a cultural commission of the Afghan parliament. One of her colleagues, member of parliament Shagufa Noorzai, said that her death was part of a pattern of women targeted in Kabul's streets. "#Farkhunda was burned to death, #BabyMahsa was kidnapped, raped & killed, #BibiAyesha nose was cut, Women got stoned and today #MinaMangal shoot 9 times. All these crimes took place mainly during the day & mainly in the green zone capital city of #Kabul. #StopKillingWomen," Noorzai tweeted. A journalist at Lemar TV, another channel where Mangal had worked, said that it was time for female journalists to be protected. "So sad to hear, Journalist& Advisor to the Parliament #MinaMangal assassinated today in Kabul by unknown person. She was a strong self made woman; RIP #Mina. She isn't the 1st and wouldn't be the last lost(unfortunately). Serious protection 4 female journalists! Is what we need," Zalma Kharooti said on Twitter. In addition to Lemar TV, Mangal also worked for Tolo TV, Afghanistan's largest private broadcaster, and Shamshad TV, a competitor. Journalists have become increasingly targeted in Afghanistan in recent years, with 13 killed in 2018 alone -- the most in any one year there, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. At least 48 journalists were killed in Afghanistan between 1994 and 2018.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Death, Extrajudicial Killing, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life, Women's rights
- HRD
- Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 19, 2019
141 shown of 141 entities