Rights Group Seeks Immediate Release of Afghan Women Rights Activist From Taliban’s Prison

Freedom Now, a human rights organisation, called for the immediate release of Afghan women rights activist Zholia Parsi and her son from the Taliban prison.

Freedom Now, a human rights organisation, called for the immediate release of Afghan women rights activist Zholia Parsi and her son from the Taliban prison.
On Thursday, the organisation reported that a week had passed since the Taliban forcibly detained this women's rights activist from her home in Afghanistan.
"We must not forget them and all other civic activists in Taliban's prisons," wrote Freedom Now on social media platform X.
Zholia Parsi, the head of the Spontaneous Movement of Women Protestors, had been detained from her house in Kabul with her child on September 27. Earlier, the Taliban had also detained Neda Parwani another member of the Spontaneous Movement of Women Protestors, from her house in Khair Khana area of Kabul. Parwani had also been detained along with her husband and child.
Zholia Parsi and Neda Parwani are members of a group of women's rights activists in Afghanistan who protested peacefully against the anti-women policies of Taliban since the group’s takeover of power in 2021.
During the past two years, the Taliban has continuously responded to the peaceful protests of women with violence, arrests and torture.


The European Union Parliament issued a resolution condemning the severe violation of human rights in Afghanistan and the Taliban's gender apartheid policies.
The EU Parliament said that after taking over power in Afghanistan, the Taliban’s oppression of women, civil society, human rights defenders and human rights violations has increased.
In the resolution, the representatives of the European Parliament have asked the Taliban authorities to fully implement their commitments regarding general amnesty.
The resolution had been adopted with 519 votes in favour, 15 votes against and 18 abstentions.
The EU parliament has condemned the increase in human rights violations in Afghanistan, especially arbitrary detentions, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and torture of the former security forces members.
It has also condemned the gender apartheid policy of the Taliban in the resolution and demanded reversing the severe restrictions on the rights of women and girls in line with Afghanistan's international obligations.
Furthermore, it strongly condemned various human rights violations committed by the Taliban, which encompassed the "brutal persecution of Christians" and the oppression of other religious minorities, which were seen as a deliberate attempt to eradicate religious and ideological diversity within Afghanistan.
In the resolution, the members of the European Parliament asked the European Union and its member states to increase their support for the Afghan civil society by funding specific assistance and protection programmes for human rights defenders.
During the last two years, the Taliban has issued more than fifty decrees against women. Human rights organisations have said that the group has practically excluded women from society applying strict policies.
Human rights defenders have said that the Taliban has set up "gender apartheid" in Afghanistan by gender segregation and depriving women from human and basic rights.
Earlier, human rights activists asked the international community to recognise gender apartheid in Afghanistan.

Jalil Abbas Jilani, the foreign minister of Pakistan, and Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s foreign minister, have met and discussed issues in Tibet, China.
Pakistan’s spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Jilani emphasised on Pakistan's commitment to enhance bilateral relations with the Taliban during his meeting with Muttaqi.
On Thursday, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on social media platform X that Jilani also emphasised the importance of addressing challenges that threaten regional peace and stability.
The Taliban's foreign minister travelled to China on Tuesday leading a delegation to participate in the third meeting of the Trans-Himalaya Forum.
Pakistan and Taliban foreign ministers held a meeting amidst rising tensions between Islamabad and the Taliban over the deportation of Afghan refugees.
The Pakistani government has set November 1 as the deadline for all the immigrants living "illegally" to voluntarily leave the country; otherwise, they will face forced repatriation.
Furthermore, Pakistan's interior minister said that of the 24 suicide bombers involved in attacks in Pakistan since January 2023, 14 were of Afghan origin.
Earlier, Yaqoob called Pakistan's treatment of Afghan immigrants "horror and barbaric".

Mullah Yaqoob, the Taliban's defence minister, condemned Pakistan's decision to deport Afghan refugees. Yaqoob called Pakistan's treatment of Afghan immigrants "horror and barbaric".
He stated that the expulsion of Afghan immigrants strains and damages the relations between the two countries.
He also called the decision of Islamabad "unfair" and asked international organisations as well as the people and scholars of Pakistan to prevent the deportation of Afghan immigrants.
The Taliban’s Defence Minister expressed these remarks on Thursday at the graduation ceremony of the group’s police academy.
Simultaneously, Mullah Yaqoob asked the immigrants to return to Afghanistan and claimed that security has been provided in the country.
Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban's deputy foreign minister, also called Pakistan's treatment of Afghan immigrants "inappropriate" and said, "This situation is not acceptable." He called Pakistan's decision to deport Afghan refugees unilateral.
The Pakistani government has set November 1 as the deadline for all the immigrants living "illegally" to voluntarily leave the country; otherwise, they will face forced repatriation.
During a press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday, October 3, Pakistan's Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti said that Afghans were involved in terrorist attacks in various areas of Pakistan.
He has emphasised that the property of illegal immigrants in this country will be confiscated after the deadline.
According to the Pakistani government, 4.4 million Afghans are currently living in Pakistan.

Amnesty International on Wednesday called on Pakistan to continue its "historical support" of Afghan migrants and urged the government of the country not to deport them.
The organisation has said that these refugees will face Taliban’s persecution in Afghanistan.
Nadia Rahman, Amnesty International’s Interim Deputy Regional Director for research in South Asia, in a statement said that the organisation wants the Pakistani government to allow Afghan refugees to live in Pakistan with dignity and without fear of being deported to Afghanistan.
The organisation also called on the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to expedite the process of registration and review of applications of Afghans seeking protection in Pakistan.
"The international community must act immediately to keep up their initial promises of providing protection to those fleeing persecution in Afghanistan,” Rahman said.
According to UNHCR, more than 3.7 million Afghans live in Pakistan, and only 1.4 million of them are registered.
On Tuesday, the UNHCR said that Afghan refugees in Pakistan should be allowed to leave the country voluntarily.
Qaiser Khan Afridi, the UNHCR spokesperson in Pakistan, expressed concern regarding the plan to deport Afghan immigrants from Pakistan. He stated that the United Nations is seeking further clarification from relevant Pakistani authorities regarding the government's recent decision in this regard.
Recently, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan also reacted to the decision of the government and demanded immediate cancellation of the move. The commission stated that the deportation of over one million immigrants, due to their alleged links to terrorist and criminal groups, not only demonstrates a lack of compassion, but also a short-sighted and narrow view of national security.

Zamir Kabulov, Russia's Special Representative for Afghanistan, stated that during the Moscow format meeting, most participants expressed their support for the Taliban's efforts in combating ISIS and drug trafficking.
However, Tajikistan had a different stance on the issue. Zamir Kabulov said that according to the Tajik authorities, the Taliban had done nothing praiseworthy.
During a press conference held in Moscow on Wednesday, Kabulov supplied insights into Tajikistan's opposing viewpoint, in addition to addressing the joint statement of the recent Moscow format meeting on Afghanistan.
Kabulov said, “Tajikistan requested to be excluded from the list of countries that endorsed the final statement of the Moscow format meeting, and we accepted their request."
The Moscow format meeting on Afghanistan was held on September 29 in the presence of representatives from ten countries in Kazan city of Russia.
Special representatives and senior officials of Tajikistan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan attended the meeting. The Taliban’s foreign minister also participated as a guest.
According to Kabulov, the joint statement of the summit was issued with the agreement of nine participating countries, except Tajikistan.
Kabulov explained, “Tajikistan has a different viewpoint and strongly criticises the Taliban.”