Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, says he is deeply concerned about the recent wave of detentions of women and girls in Kabul by the Taliban.
On Monday, July 22, Bennett posted on his X account, stating that reports indicate this time the arrests of women and girls have been “more violent” than in previous years.
“These arrests reflect the ongoing systematic gender-based persecution by the Taliban, which has instilled profound fear among the Afghan people, especially women and girls,” he said.
Since last week, the Taliban have been detaining girls for what they claim is “immodesty,” arresting and transferring them to undisclosed locations.
However, Saif-ul-Salam Khyber, spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, has denied the arrests of girls. He claimed that in the nearly four years since the group’s takeover, no girl has been detained on charges of “immodesty.”
This comes despite the fact that last year the Taliban arrested dozens of girls on similar accusations, which were documented at the time by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
