Following the unjustified detention of several women activists in Kabul, the Afghan capital, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) demanded that the Taliban provide an explanation for its actions.
The UNAMA demanded “reasons” for Zarifa Yaqoubi and other activists’ “continued” detention on Wednesday, November 16, in a statement on its social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter.
“The rights of [Zarifa Yaqoubi] & other activists must be respected. Reasons for their continued detention should be made public,” UNAMA wrote.
The UN agency in Afghanistan further added that it is seeking to contact and access the detainees and learn their whereabouts.
The Taliban’s approach of concealment and secret courts was criticized by UNAMA, which also argued for the detainees’ access to legal counsel and the revelation of the reasons for their detention.
UNAMA has emphasized that the detainees should be able to contact family members, even though the Taliban has detained the 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.
Less than a week after Zarifa Yaqoubi and her colleagues were taken into custody, the Taliban Intelligence Agency detained another female activist, Farhat Popalzai, sparking outrage on social media.
This occurs at a time when the Taliban’s harsh restrictions on women’s freedom of association, expression, and movement have caused a serious deterioration in Afghanistan’s human rights situation.
