“Naan, kor, azadi!” Bread, work, freedom! This was the chant heard on the streets of Kabul by the many brave women this past weekend, who marched in the name of their rights, economic distress, and mass hunger, and called for an end to the year-long repression of their freedoms. They courageously protested in the face of Talib gunfire, violence, and arbitrary arrest.
Today, on what marks one year of the Taliban becoming the de-facto leaders of Afghanistan, we’re holding space for the dignity, protests, and voices of Afghanistan’s women and girls, who bear the worst brunt of the Taliban’s ideology and whose lives have been treated solely as instruments for diplomatic engagement with the international community.
The women’s protests this weekend were a bold and brave response against the Taliban, who in the past 12 months have mounted sustained attacks on human rights, violently clamped down on peaceful protests, and suppressed women’s rights. The women’s protests produced powerful images and those of us in the international community hold the responsibility of supporting their visibility.
Today is a day of mourning for almost everyone in Afghanistan, those not in Afghanistan, and especially the women of Afghanistan. Since last August, they have basically lost everything. The Taliban have become even tougher and crueller in their approach and their measures become more extreme day-by-day. In the past year, they have issued 28 decrees and verdicts to eliminate women’s rights, when they could have instead invested that time and energy on the economy or security of the country. It’s clear that women of Afghanistan are the Taliban’s natural resistance and are regarded as their natural opponents. The Taliban are scared of women of Afghanistan.
– Fawzia Koofi, Former MP and Deputy Speaker of Parliament
In a new briefing released by Amnesty International today, The Rule of Taliban: A Year of Violence, Impunity and False Promises, we are calling on the Taliban to immediately stop committing gross human rights violations and crimes under international law. As Afghanistan’s de facto authorities, the Taliban must urgently restore, protect and promote the rights of all Afghan people, regardless of gender and sexuality.
ACTIVISM
- Twitter solidarity action: Show your solidarity with women and girls in Afghanistan. Twitter is one of the most frequently used social media platforms in Afghanistan. It is widely accessed by women and girls in the country, although many do not post messages on it that could be perceived as being critical of the Taliban, for fear of retaliation. Send them message of support on social media using the hashtag #YourRightsAreOurRights.
- Share the Death in Slow Motion report and the briefing The Rule of Taliban: A Year of Violence, Impunity and False Promises, with your local governments, stressing the need to press the Taliban at every opportunity, to respect the fundamental rights of women and girls.
