United Nations experts have demanded the immediate release of women’s rights defenders Zholia Parsi and Neda Parwani, currently held in a Taliban detention facility. The experts believe that their detention is a clear violation of human rights and international law.
The experts, including Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, said in a statement on Thursday, October 31, that they are increasingly concerned about the physical and mental well-being of the two women. Signatories to the statement include seven other senior UN rapporteurs or senior working committee members focusing on women’s rights and discrimination.
“The release of Ms. Parwan and Ms. Parsi and their family members from detention is an urgent matter. After more than a month in detention, we are increasingly concerned about their physical and mental wellbeing,” the experts said.
Since retaking control of Afghanistan in August 2021 after international troops withdrew, the Taliban has imposed harsh rules and systemic gender discrimination to erase women and girls from public life. Human rights reports suggest that these actions could amount to crimes against humanity. In a joint report with the UN Working Group in June, Bennett highlighted the dire situation of human rights under the Taliban, particularly the widespread and systematic discrimination against women and girls. The report documented that between September 2021 and May 2023, the Taliban imposed 50 draconian edicts against women and girls, including banning women’s education and employment and curbing their mobility, appearance, and rights to civic participation, among other things.
The Taliban’s restrictions on women’s rights have been widely condemned and protested both inside and outside Afghanistan. Hundreds of women activists and protesters who have peacefully demanded their rights and opposed the regime’s restrictions have faced threats, arrests, and forced disappearance. Many have remained in Taliban custody for months.
In a recent crackdown on women’s rights activists and protesters, the Taliban arrested Neda Parwani, her husband, and their four-year-old child on September 19. Shortly thereafter, Zholia Parsi and her elder son were also arrested in Kabul without charges or a trial. None of them have been given access to lawyers.
UN experts say that people should not be imprisoned for expressing different views and that women human rights defenders are especially at risk and more likely to be targeted because of their gender. “The Taliban seem to be continuing to intensify their restrictions on civic space, especially through silencing of the voices of women and girls, thus creating a chilling effect,” the statement said.
The Taliban last week released the education activist Matiullah Wesa after seven months. Wesa, who traveled around the country to campaign for girls’ right to education and the opening of schools in some of the most remote areas, was imprisoned by the Taliban over bogus charges of espionage. There are not many updates available since his release about his whereabouts or whether the regime would allow him to continue his work.
Before Wesa, the Taliban also released the Afghanistan-born French journalist, Mortaza Behboudi, who had been imprisoned by the Taliban in January 2023. Behboudi returned to France after his release to reunite with his wife, Alexandra, who had led a robust social media campaign for his release.
