Massive demonstrations in major cities of the world with the slogan "Stop Gender Apartheid" and "Stop Hazara Genocide" in Afghanistan
Yesterday, January 21, 2024, demonstrations were held in more than 30 major cities in different countries of the world to protest against “Gender Apartheid” and “Hazara Genocide”. At the end, in a joint statement, the protestors asked the international community to recognize the existence of gender apartheid and the genocide of Hazaras in Afghanistan, instead of interacting with the Taliban terrorist group and the cause of “gender apartheid” and “ethnic discord” in Afghanistan.
Currently, under the rule of the Taliban, women are deprived of all their basic and human rights, and despite many protests, the international community has not paid serious attention to the issue of women’s deprivation in Afghanistan.
Yesterday’s international protests by Afghans are the second series of protests against the “Genocide of the Hazaras”. Last year, following an attack on an educational center in Dasht Barchi, west of Kabul, a large demonstration was launched in more than a hundred major cities of the world with the hashtag “Stop Hazara Genocide”.
Human rights situation in Afghanistan in the UNAMA report (October-December 2023)
The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) updated a report on the human rights situation in Afghanistan from October to December 2023 based on the monitoring carried out by the Human Rights Division of UNAMA and within the framework of the mission granted by the United Nations Security Council and published on January 22, 2024.
UNAMA’s findings in the field of gender-based violence against women and girls show that there is no clarity regarding the applicable legal framework for complaints of gender-based violence against women and girls, and it is not known which office of the ruling group is responsible for handling these complaints. Many victims of this type of violence prefer to deal with these complaints through traditional mechanisms. Complaints that are referred to the responsible departments of the ruling group for consideration are generally handled and resolved by men.
In another part of this report on the rights of women and girls, it is stated that the Taliban authorities continue to apply and announce restrictions on women’s rights to work, study and freedom of movement, and , the de facto Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, and its respective departments at provincial level, take on this enforcement role with regards to hijab There are also examples of restrictions on women, some of which are:
• On Dec 26, the Taliban visited a bus station in Kandahar and checked it to ensure that women do not travel without Maharam;
• On Oct 01, three female health workers were detained because they went to work without Mahram;
• From Dec 2 in Paktia, women were prohibited from going to health centers without accompanying Mahram;
• On October 22 in Nangarhar, about 400 women were banned from working in the pine nut processing plant while men were allowed to continue to work;
• On November 22, in Balkh province, only 200 women were fired for financial reasons;
• On November 27, 2 women were arrested for buying contraceptives and released after being guaranteed by their family members.
In the next part of this report about the enforcement of the hijab decree, it is stated that Taliban members started arresting and threatening and warning a large number of women and girls accused of not wearing a proper hijab from December 31 to implement the April 25, 2022 order regarding the hijab. The Taliban detained women and girls mostly in West Kabul/Dasht-e-Barchi, the Hazara area, and some in Khair-Khana, which is mostly Tajik, and released them after signing a letter of commitment and obtaining guarantees from them. UNAMA has stated in this report that it is investigating the issue of receiving money from these women and girls. Meanwhile, the arbitrary actions of Taliban members do not match the text of the hijab decree issued by the leader of this group, and the four steps of warning the wrongdoer, summoning Mahram, short-term imprisonment of Mahram and brought to the court are not considered by Taliban members.
The report also refers to the targeted killing of Hazaras. During these three months, a total of 40 people has been killed and 86 injured in three terrorist attacks, one in Pul-e-Khumri and two in Barchi. ISIS claimed responsibility for all three attacks and announced that the target was the Shia and Hazara communities. The report also mentions the targeted killings of Shia clerics that took place on October 22, November 25, and December 1, and as a result, 5 Shia and Hazara clerics were killed.
In the part of the report that deals with the arrest of human rights activists and media workers, it is mentioned that four protesting women were arrested:
• Neda Parwani was arrested on September 19 and released on December 13;
• Zholya Parsi was arrested on September 27 and released on December 18;
• Parisa Azadeh was arrested on November 15 and released on September 25;
• Manizha Siddiqi, who was arrested on October 8 and is still in Taliban custody.
In the report, various other cases such as arrest and killing of former soldiers, violation of freedom of speech, arbitrary corporal punishment and many other cases have been discussed.
These are the cases documented by UNAMA. Amid severe censorship of news and lack of freedom of expression, many cases of murder, torture, arbitrary arrests and punishments are not published and followed up for various reasons, and the responsibility of all these lawlessness and chaos is the Taliban terrorist group.
