UNAMA asks Taliban to explain rationale

Amid ongoing restrictions on women in Afghanistan, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has raised concern over the detention of several women activists in Kabul under the Taliban rule and has asked the terror outfit to explain the rationale behind this.

Demanding reasons behind the detention of Afghan rights defender Zarifa Yaqoubi and other female activists as well as their release, the UNAMA said constraining the work of women does not affect them alone but impacts society as a whole, Khaama Press reported.

Taking to Twitter, UNAMA wrote, "Afghan rights defender @YaghubiZarifa & colleagues were arrested two weeks ago today. They must be released. Silencing women and constraining their work does not affect them alone, it impacts all of society. All Afghans have the right to freedom of association, expression & belief."

According to Khaama Press, UNAMA also criticised the Taliban's strategy of concealment and secret courts, emphasising that detainees should be able to contact family members despite the Taliban's detention of women activists in unidentified locations.

Following the detention of Zarifa Yaqoubi and her four colleagues from the west of Kabul, several others have disappeared or been arrested by the Taliban. The situation of women in Afghanistan is severely bad as they are living miserable lives in the country since the Taliban took control in August last year.

Last week, the Taliban prohibited Afghan women from visiting all public parks in the country. Taliban spokesperson said they have also banned women's public bathhouses as they are contrary to the sharia law.

The UN mission in Afghanistan expressed its deep concern over reports of women in Kabul being prevented from using parks, gyms and baths, and urged the Taliban to respect female citizens' "access to all forms of public life."

"UNAMA is deeply concerned by recent Taliban officials' statements and mounting on-the-ground reports of women being prevented from using parks, gyms and baths. All Afghans' rights should be upheld, particularly women's access to all forms of public life and girls right to education," the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) wrote on Twitter.

Since the return of the Taliban to Kabul in August 2021, the Taliban's systematic attacks on the rights of women and girls and the use of violence, including torture and enforced disappearances, have created a culture of fear in Afghan society.

With the Taliban back in power, women have been barred from exercising their basic rights such as freedom of movement, right to education and political participation.

In the statement, Amnesty International said that the Taliban also decimated institutions designed to address cases of domestic violence against women under the former government.