The latest: A day after the arrest of three female protesters by Taliban in Kabul, Richard Bennett, the United Nation’s special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, has asked the Taliban to release the arrested protesters as soon as possible.
Go deeper:
- The special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan in a tweet on Monday said that Taliban have recently arrested Fatema Mohammadi, Malalai Hashemi, and Ruqiya Sa’i, who were among the women protesting against the blocking of the doors of girls’ schools in Kabul.
- According to Bennett, as education for girls above grade 6 should have resumed, Taliban again forcefully broke up a peaceful women’s demonstration which called for their right to education.
- Richard Bennett has asked the Taliban to immediately and “unconditionally” release the arrested women protesters.
- The protesters had been arrested on Monday, following the disruption of their protest by Taliban in Dasht-e-Barchi in Kabul city.
Zoom out: The detention comes as a small group of female activists staged a protest rally in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Sunday, demanding that Taliban authorities reopen schools and universities for girls nationwide.
- Around 25 women and girls attended the demonstration, carrying placards and chanting slogans “freedom, work, education,” “wise mother strong nation,” and “education is our right”.
- Secondary schools for boys reopened this past week across the country after winter break, but the Taliban did not allow girls to return to classes despite international denunciation of the education ban and calls for lifting it.
