Rawadari: Arbitrary Arrests of Afghan Citizens by the Taliban Have Doubled in 2025

The human rights organization Rawadari has reported a sharp increase in arbitrary and unlawful arrests by the Taliban, revealing that the number of such detentions during the first six months of 2025 has doubled compared to the same period in 2024.

In its latest report, published on Saturday, Rawadari warns that restrictions on women have intensified under the Taliban’s strict enforcement of the “Amr bil Ma’ruf” (Commanding the Good) regulations, significantly eroding fundamental freedoms across the country.

The report—based on interviews with victims, eyewitnesses, civil activists, journalists, government and private employees, lawyers, healthcare workers, and citizens in 32 provinces—paints a grim picture: freedom and personal security have deteriorated nationwide, driven by systematic crackdowns on behavior deemed “un-Islamic.”

According to Rawadari’s findings, the Taliban have arbitrarily detained citizens for issues such as dress code, beard length and style, listening to music, speaking with non-mahrams, and other personal choices, in blatant violation of international human rights standards.

Key findings include:

• Arbitrary and unlawful arrests doubled compared to the same period in 2024.
• Targeted killings, extrajudicial executions, and enforced disappearances of former security personnel, journalists, and human rights defenders rose by 30%.
• Public floggings and corporal punishments have increased twofold since last year.

The report also documents severe gender-based repression, stating that Taliban-imposed systemic restrictions amount to gender persecution and may constitute crimes against humanity.

Women’s rights have drastically worsened in the first half of 2025. The Taliban have banned women from public spaces, closed schools, and shuttered private educational centers, including nine private academies, 41 English classes, and five computer training courses secretly teaching girls. At least 11 teachers (5 women and 6 men) were arrested in Helmand, Bamyan, Daikundi, Herat, and Kabul for defying the ban.

Additionally, Taliban authorities have distributed “Mahram ID cards” in Kandahar, requiring girls above the age of nine to attend school only when accompanied by a male guardian, while imposing similar restrictions on all women leaving their homes.

Rawadari stresses that the dismantling of Afghanistan’s legal framework over the past four years has left women with no effective mechanism for justice or recourse in cases of violence or rights violations.