Statements from the Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women
Kabul, Afghanistan

September 8, 2023

Statement to the media

Hunger Strike against Gender Apartheid

Five young women and one man sit on a sidewalk in front of protest banners and signs in German about the hunger strike

The Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women (SMAW) supports the brave and selfless struggle of Tamana Paryani for the rights of Afghan women. On September 1, 2023 Paryani went on a hunger strike in Cologne, Germany, demanding the United Nations and the German government to recognize the Taliban government as gender apartheid.

Ms. Paryani, as a women's rights defender and critic of the Taliban's misogynistic policies, was arrested by the Taliban intelligence on January 19, 2022, along with her three sisters. After 26 days of physical and mental torture, she was released from the Taliban prison. Although she was banned from leaving by the Taliban, she managed to escape to Pakistan and then became a refugee in Germany in October 2022.

Even in exile, Tamana Paryani never neglected to fight and raise the voice of deprived women of Afghanistan and was always critical of the international community for dealing with the Taliban. With her hunger strike, Ms. Paryani was able to draw the attention of the people of Europe and the world to the important point that the issue of Afghan women has become a victim of the political expediency of Western governments and the cries of Afghan women's oppression under the brutal rule of the Taliban are not heard. Pariyani said in a recent interview that the silence of the world against the cry of Afghan women is shameful.

After the eight days of the hunger strike, while Tamana's health is deteriorating, the German government and the United Nations have not paid any attention to her demands. The Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women asks the United Nations, the German government and other countries to respond to the demands of Tamana Paryiani immediately and while recognizing the Taliban as a misogynistic group, put pressure on the Taliban to stop suppressing and detaining protesting women.

August 15, 2023

No to the government of the Taliban and human rights violators, forward to establish a democratic and secular government

Cartoon of Uncle Sam handing an Afghan Peace Agreement document to a Taliban fighter with his foot on the back of a robed women lying facedown on the ground. Uncle Sam is saying 'We're good if you're good!'

Two years have passed since the terrible rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Based on the agreement between the US and the Taliban in Doha in February 2020, an agreement was reached that the Islamic Emirate of the Taliban would replace the government of Ashraf Ghani and that the implementation of the US agendas in the region would be left to the Taliban cheaply and without casualties. During the past two years, the people, especially the women of Afghanistan, lost both their bread and freedom, as well as their access to education and social services. In these two years, the Taliban, in front of the open but numb eyes of the international community, deprived Afghan women of their most basic human and social rights and removed them from society. The Taliban responded to the protest of women with bullets, and suppressed the peaceful demonstrations, and detained, tortured and killed the protesting women.

The people and women of Afghanistan were betrayed under the slogan of democracy and human rights and fight against terrorism in the last two decades, but in the last two years under the name of implementing Islamic Sharia, the dimensions of crimes and betrayals have become wider, more intense and more official.

Dismissing women from government offices and foreign and domestic institutions/organizations and closing women's private businesses such as beauty salons and on the other hand not providing any economic and financial programs for women who are the breadwinners of their families, is in fact a genocide that is killing more than half of the population through imposing hunger, malnutrition, health and mental problems.

Under the medieval rule of the Taliban, our people, especially the women of Afghanistan, are experiencing the darkest days of their lives. The lack of permission to raise the voice of protest, the widespread and extreme poverty, unemployment of 99 percent of women, migration, and despair are the Taliban's gift to the people of Afghanistan. The Taliban, who are hostile to women, science and civilization, focused all their actions against women, education, destroying works of art and music, suppressing journalists, civil society activists, and women's rights defenders.

Therefore, on the occasion of the second anniversary of the brutal rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan, we Afghan women once again emphasize our positions and demands:

1- We request women and human rights activists, women's rights defenders and all conscientious people around the world to put pressure on their governments to cut off their open and secret support for the Taliban government in Afghanistan. Not only that the Taliban should not be recognized, but any compromise and deal that would strengthen and legitimize the Taliban regime should be condemned.

2- We repeatedly emphasize that under the pretext of humanitarian aid, the international community's weekly aid of tens of millions of dollars to the Taliban government is actually strengthening the foundations of the misogynistic Taliban government, and the benefits of this aid do not reach the poor people and women of Afghanistan. Therefore, any direct and indirect financial aid to the misogynist and medieval Taliban regime should be stopped and instead humanitarian aid should be organized directly to deserving people and women through a transparent mechanism under the supervision of independent institutions.

3- Some believe that in the last two years, when about 50 decrees against women have been issued by the Taliban, and they have restricted and denied the rights and freedoms of women in Afghanistan, it is because the Taliban put pressure on the international community to finally be recognized. However, the fact is that the Taliban have a misogynistic ideology and do not recognize women as human beings. While the majority of Western governments have open and secret relations with the Taliban and welcome their delegations with red carpets in Oslo, Doha, Dubai and Istanbul, if the Taliban are officially recognized, still there will be no hope for a fundamental change in their policies against women.

4-The international community should no longer follow a passive stance and be content only with publishing declarations and condemning some misogynistic actions of the Taliban. The international community should stand by the women of Afghanistan and take an active and serious position against the Taliban.

5- The spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women as the voice of deprived and suffering women of Afghanistan, believes that in the existence of a pure Taliban government or a joint government of the Taliban with their opposition (Islamic fundamentalists and human rights violators such as National Resistance Front under the leadership of Ahmad Masoud), women will not be able to enjoy their rights and freedoms.

6- In order to overcome the disastrous situation in Afghanistan, we propose the establishment of a democratic and secular government through transparent and fair elections.

July 20, 2023

The Taliban responds to women's calls for freedom with bullets and violence

Women in black robes gathered outside beauty shop with handwritten sign.

On July 19, 2023, dozens of young women and girls took to the streets of Kabul and chanted the slogan "work, bread and freedom". These women protested against the order to close women's beauty salons and asked the Taliban government to let women work and study.

Although the women's demonstration was held in a peaceful and civil manner, the misogynistic police of the Taliban prevented the continuation of the women's demonstration. The Taliban used sprinklers, aerial fire and violence against protesting women to scatter them. Dozens of women were beaten and injured by the Taliban. The Taliban searched and chased the organizers of the demonstration, at least 8 women were detained during/after the demonstration and then transferred to an unknown location.

According to the order of the Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhund, on July 3rd the “Ministry of vice and Virtue” gave a month's deadline to all the owners of all women's beauty salons to close their businesses. The Taliban consider the industry of women's beauty parlors to be against Islamic Sharia.

Based on the figures of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, there are 3,100 hairdressing salons in Kabul and 12,000 beauty salons in other provinces, where more than 60,000 women work. Every woman who works in this business is the sole breadwinner of her family of 6 people. By closing women's beauty salons, the Taliban are actually directly confronting 360,000 people with starvation and poverty.

By brutally suppressing, killing and imprisoning dozens and hundreds of protesting women, the Taliban thought that women would no longer have the courage to protest and fight publicly, but on Wednesday, brave Afghan women proved that the voice of justice will never be silenced and that women will continue to fight and protest for their right to work, education and freedom, accepting any kind of risk.

June 14, 2023

Statement Regarding the “Oslo Freedom Forum” and the Invitation of Taliban Representatives

A woman kneeling with a gag in her mout and her arms secured behind her, in front of a large banner saying 'Recognition of Taliban = Legitimation of Terror' A One-woman protest in Oslo, Norway against the Oslo meeting on Afghanistan. On the pavment in front of her is another large banner saying 'Womens Rights are Human Rights'.

We express our deep concern and disappointment over the recent invitation extended by the Norwegian government to Taliban representatives at the Oslo Freedom Forum, June 13-15, 2023. The Taliban's track record regarding the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan is well-documented and highly troubling. Since their takeover in August 2021, they have systematically deprived Afghan women and girls of their basic human and civil rights.

The Taliban's policies, which ban women from working outside their homes, in government offices, NGOs, and even the United Nations, and impose restrictions on girls' education, including the closure of all girls' schools above grade six and the denial of access to universities, are clear violations of fundamental human rights.

It is deeply concerning that the "international community" and the Norwegian government, which claims to champion human rights and women's rights, have granted legitimacy to the Taliban by inviting them to a conference in Norway. This decision contradicts the protests and appeals made by Afghan women in Afghanistan and progressive individuals in Norway and around the world who advocate for the rights of Afghan women and the oppressed people of Afghanistan.

We strongly condemn this initiative by the Norwegian government and call upon women's rights defenders and supporters worldwide to voice their opposition to this hypocritical policy. Granting privileges to a misogynistic government, encourages and promotes the Taliban but on the contrary it undermines the rights and aspirations of women and the Afghan people who have been oppressed under their rule.

We urge the Norwegian government to reconsider its stance and not provide a platform for the recognition of the Taliban's extremist regime. Instead, the Norwegian government should exert pressure on the Taliban to be held accountable for their crimes against women and the Afghan population. The release of imprisoned women who have protested against the Taliban's oppressive measures should be a condition for the Taliban delegation's return to Afghanistan.

We call upon women's rights organizations and advocates worldwide to join us in protesting against the hypocrisy of the Norwegian government. It is crucial to ensure that the rights and well-being of Afghan women and girls are prioritized and that the Afghan women's voices are heard.

Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women
Kabul, Afghanistan

May 8, 2023

The United Nations retreats against the Taliban

In April 2023, the Taliban decided to ban Afghan women from working for the United Nations (UN) in Afghanistan. The United Nations condemned the Taliban order, saying the decision "seriously undermines their work, including their ability to reach all those in need". At the same time, UN officials warned that they were prepared to make the ''heartbreaking'' decision to withdraw from Afghanistan in May 2023, if they cannot convince the Taliban to allow women to work for the organization or if the Taliban continue their discriminatory policies.

The United Nations' ultimatum to the Taliban expired in May. But it was not the Taliban but the United Nations that withdrew from its position. Unfortunately, we have seen how the UN has compromised women's rights and the values it is committed to by announcing that it will not leave Afghanistan. In fact, the United Nations surrendered to the Taliban and retreated against the Taliban and ignored women and human rights. This is not a good excuse for the United Nations and other international "humanitarian organizations" to stay in Afghanistan to help people in need. Because humanitarian aid never reaches the vulnerable people and on the contrary, the Taliban regime and the Taliban benefit from it.

When there are no female employees in aid organizations, including the United Nations, and the Taliban do not allow women to go to aid agencies, how can half of the population of Afghanistan benefit from these aids? On the other hand, the Taliban has argued that the issue of women's rights and women's work in national and international organizations is an internal issue of Afghanistan and should not be a condition for the recognition of the Taliban by the international community.

We acknowledge the devastating impact of the UN suspension of humanitarian aid on the Afghan people, especially the most vulnerable. While providing humanitarian aid to the Afghan people is essential, it must be done in a transparent manner to ensure that it is not misused by the Taliban and reaches the needy. In addition, the United Nations and the international community must also stop giving the Taliban $40 million in cash every week, as this provides the necessary resources for the Taliban to maintain their authoritarian regime and perpetuate their misogynistic policies. The excuse of offering aid to the needy should not be a tool in the hands of the United Nations to cover the face of its support for the Taliban.

We strongly believe that the willingness of the UN and the international community to give concessions to the Taliban, despite their misogynistic policies, is a setback for women's rights and civil liberties in Afghanistan. By continuing to deal with the Taliban and granting them privileges, the United Nations and the international community are essentially sacrificing the rights and freedoms of Afghan women for their political interests.

The policy of appeasement with the misogynist Taliban regime will never lead to the fulfillment of the basic demands of women and the people of Afghanistan, on the contrary, it creates false confidence in the Taliban as a legitimate and righteous group and encourages them to violate women rights unlimitedly in Afghanistan.

The Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women (SMAW) asks the "international community" to prioritize the rights and freedoms of Afghan women and not make them victims of political expediency. Afghan women's voices must be heard and their rights must be protected.

Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women
Kabul, Afghanistan

March 13, 2023

International Day of Women in Afghanistan

Row of young women, most dreassed in black with headcoverings, sitting on a low wall studying books on the campus of Kabul Univerity from which they have been prohibited

In the week of March 8, International Women's Day, protesting activities and demands to stop the anti-women policies of the Taliban had increased. As long as the conditions allowed, women in Kabul and in the big provinces of Afghanistan went to the streets in public and chanted slogans against the misogynist regime of the Taliban. But in the places where the Taliban did not allow the protests, women did not give up and gathered in hidden places and celebrated this day and expressed their anger and voice. The main demands of the protesting women in Kabul were the freedom and protection of women and the release of all women protesting prisoners from Taliban prisons. The protesting women also demanded that women and girls be allowed to go to their schools, universities and workplaces.

Protesting Afghan women also call on Afghan women to unite for their rights and not let the misogynistic Taliban regime and their gender apartheid policy be formalized in Afghanistan. In all their protests during the week of International Women's Day, Afghan women emphasized the importance and necessity of international solidarity of other women of the world with Afghan women and called it one of the fundamental conditions for the victory of women against the Taliban government.

Release the imprisoned women

A number of women from the “Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women” gathered in a closed place to raise their voice of protest on the occasion of the 8th of March International Women's Day. Since the intelligence of the Taliban is seeking to identify and detain active and protesting women, these women inevitably held the event in a limited and hidden manner. They renewed their commitment to continue their struggle and criticized the international community for not supporting the voice of Afghan women. They pointed to the last dozen cases of detention of women who are still in Taliban custody and no efforts are being made to free them.

Ozra Zafar, organizer of the event expressed her concern and said that hundreds of protesting women inside Afghanistan are under threat and persecution for participating in protests and demonstrations against the Taliban and are forced to live in hiding without any facilities.Their children suffer from hunger and cannot go to medical centers due to the risk of being captured by the Taliban.

March 8 was celebrated by women in Ghazni with a book-reading big gathering

Women and girls in Malestan district of Ghazni province held a book reading show on the occasion of March 8 International Women's Day. Despite the fact that the Taliban have closed all the gates of girls' schools above the sixth grade and deprived women of their work and human rights, the women and girls of Malestan organized a book reading show in protest of the anti-feminist policies of the Taliban. More than 650 people participated in this demonstration, 90% of the participants were women and girls.

With this civil protest, women showed that they are resisting for the right to education and participation in the society and are not afraid of repression, torture, prison or even death.

March 8 and women's demonstrations in Kabul

For the occasion of International Woman's Day; a large number of women and girls in the city of Kabul went to the streets of Kabul and demonstrated in protest against the misogynistic policies of the Taliban.

With the slogans "Bread, Work, Freedom" and "Women, Education, Freedom", they asked the Taliban to open the gates of schools and universities to women and girls immediately and to respect their human rights. They condemned the opportunistic policies of the international community against the Taliban and demanded that the weekly aid of 40 million dollars to the misogynistic Taliban regime should be stopped. They called the silence of the international community against the violation of women's rights and the abuse of human rights by the Taliban in Afghanistan shameful.

Students in Balkh province boycott the university

Language and literature students of Balkh University pledged that they will not attend the university in protest of not allowing female students to attend the university. Male students of this university announced that they will not return to classes in solidarity with female students and their classmates. They submitted their open letter of protest to the president of Balkh University.

This letter states: "We, the students of Balkh University Faculty of Language and Literature, had announced in our previous letter of protest against the decision to ban the education of girls, that we will not attend classes until the gate of the university is opened for girls."

Women's protest behind the wall of Kabul University

The Ministry of Higher Education of the Taliban announced that the new academic year will begin on March 6. But the Taliban still have no will to open the gates of schools and universities for girls and allow girls from sixth grade and above to go to school and allow girls and women to go to universities.

In protest of not allowing women and girls to enter the university campus, dozens of female students gathered behind the closed gates of Kabul University in a symbolic protest last Monday. These girls read books behind the university wall and called on male students and university professors to join their protest and boycott the university.

The Taliban dispersed the girls who had gathered in front of Kabul University by beating and threatening them with weapons and warned them to return to their homes.

These female students have said that although the university is closed to them, they will try to gather behind the walls of the university as a form of protest every day and study outside the university.

Feb 12, 2023

Detention, torture and killing of women continues

Photo portrait of Parisa Mobarez wearing a blue suit jacket and black hijab

The Taliban have arrested Parisa Mubariz, the founder of the protesting women's movement in Takhar province, along with her brother. In addition to being an activist for women's rights, Ms. Parisa was also the coach of the women's Taekwondo team in Takhar province. Rahmatullah, the brother of Parisa, is a mechanic and did not participate in the protests. Ms. Paris has been arrested for protesting the Taliban's misogynistic policy. The family of Prisa Mubariz does not know the fate of her and her brother. In December of last year, the Taliban arrested five protesting girls during the demonstrations and then from their homes, and their fate is still unknown.

The arrest of Ms. Parisa Mobarez proves that the arrest, torture, and killing of women continues and the Taliban search and detain protesting women from house to house day and night. Sonia Farhangyar, a human rights activist, is also under the threat of being pursued by the Taliban. She says that the arrest of Ms. Parisa Mubarez is not a matter of one or two people. “Anyone who has raised her voice against the Taliban's rule is in danger and being pursued by the Taliban. After their rule, the Taliban have been suppressing civil protests until now. We live in the 21st century, but in the presence of the United Nations and human rights institutions, we women are oppressed by the Taliban for demanding our rights.”

In an interview with "Afghanistan International TV", Ms. Sonia Farhangyar said that: “According to the information of Parisa's family, the Taliban attacked her house on Saturday morning, arrested her and her brother, and transferred them to an unknown place. She adds that the order of arrest of other protesting women has also been issued by the Taliban, one of whom is myself. One and a half month ago, the Taliban searched my house to arrest me, but I was not at home. They beat my father. Then I had to leave Takhar Province to protect myself. Mr. Farhangyar acknowledges that all the protesting girls in Takhar are under threat and facing the danger of being caught. Mr. Farhangyar asks why the international community is always silent in the face of the Taliban's terror against women and does not stand by the women of Afghanistan. We are oppressed every day for demanding our rights, but the international community sends forty million dollars to the Taliban every week and supports them”.

The United Nations and other so-called governments defending women's rights are either completely silent or limit their response to these daily Taliban crimes against women to a tweet and an expression of concern.

Mr. Farhangyar continues that the Taliban are afraid of the existence of knowledgeable and literate women and consider them a threat to the survival of their rule. That is why the Taliban are trying to suppress women's protests and silence their voices.

According to BBC Farsi: Ms. Parisa Mubarez had said in a published video that "the Taliban arrests and tortures protesting women, activists and journalists, and suppresses protesting voices, and no international organization, including UNAMA and diplomatic missions in Afghanistan, hold the Taliban accountable for the torture and oppression of the Afghan people."

Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women
Kabul, Afghanistan

April 19, 2023

Press Release

Recognizing the Taliban is a betrayal of women and democracy!

The Taliban in Parwan Province, Afghanistan

The Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women strongly condemns the recent statements of the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Amina J. Mohammad, regarding the green light to recognize the Taliban regime. These statements are considered as a lobby to gain support for the Taliban and betrayal of humanity, democracy, and science.

The Taliban have a long history of misogyny and oppression of women, treating them as second-class citizens and imposing gender-based apartheid. They have banned girls from attending schools and universities. They have banned women from working in government and government sectors and with non-governmental organizations.

The Taliban does not follow any humanitarian law or UN declaration. They systematically violate human rights, women's rights and civil liberties. Since August 2021, they have killed thousands of government officials, military personnel and former employees. The Taliban brutally suppressed women's protests, and arrested, tortured and imprisoned hundreds of women's rights defenders, civil society activists, journalists, teachers and professors. Arbitrarily arresting protesting women and girls, torturing and killing them, and then threatening the families of the victimized women so they won't disclose these crimes and share the news with the media has turned Afghanistan into a hell for women.

The international community and the United Nations should not recognize the theocratic regime of the Taliban. Instead, women's rights defenders, civil society activists and journalists should be pressed for the release of imprisoned women. We ask the United Nations and the international community to stop the weekly cash aid of $40 million to the Taliban. The recognition of the Taliban will not lead to the acceptance of the demands of the international community by the Taliban. On the contrary, it will further encourage the Taliban to implement their anti-women, anti-science and anti-civil liberties policies in Afghanistan without any fear.

The possible recognition of the Taliban regime by the United Nations and the international community is a worrying development. Afghan women will not remain silent if they are recognized and if financial support for the Taliban continues without a real effort to help Afghan women and people free themselves from their oppressive regime. It doesn't matter whether the Taliban is recognized or not, as long as they are in power, the Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women will never back down and will definitely speak out bravely for education, equal rights, and freedom against the misogynistic regime of the Taliban and the hypocritical policies of the United Nations and the international community.

Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women
Kabul, Afghanistan

March 13, 2023

International Day of Women in Afghanistan

Feb 12, 2023

Detention, torture and killing of women continues

February 2, 2023

From misogynist official decrees to unofficial warnings:
Killing and violence against women continues

Hand holding up a threatening letter written in arabic written in black ink with the heading and some phrases in red ink.

On January 28, 2023, a warning letter [photo above] was widely distributed throughout the city of Kabul, in which women have been threatened with death. In this threatening letter, it is written in Pashto and Dari languages as follows: "The women of this area are informed that from this day on, no woman has the right to go around without covering her face, if she goes uncovered, she will be killed, so no one has the right to complain". These warnings should be taken seriously because they can make more women victims of violence. In the past, both the Taliban and members of fundamentalist Islamic parties in Afghanistan have thrown acid on the faces of young female students and subjected them to physical attacks.

In this regard, "Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty" reports from an eyewitness that a person in the market of Maryam High School in the city of Kabul had many papers with him and distributed them to the people and urged them to use these papers in their own areas for information. Radio Azadi (Radio Liberty) quotes a woman from Kabul who was very scared. The lady says that the same leaflets were distributed in her area and women who leave the house without covering their faces have been threatened with death.

After coming to power in August 2021, the Taliban act against women in three ways:

1) official decrees and public actions

Through these orders and their systematic actions, the Taliban deprived and limited the rights and freedoms of women. First, they closed girls' schools above the sixth grade, and then they banned young girls from higher education and going to universities. In the same way, in their subsequent decrees, the Taliban excluded women from the right to work in government offices, private institutions, and charity organizations. Full hijab and sharia mahram [escort by a male family member] when leaving the house were declared mandatory. In addition, in other decrees, the Taliban prohibited women from going to amusement parks, women's public baths, hairdressers and tailor shops.

Those women who violate these orders are detained and beaten by the Taliban's religious police, and then they are officially tried and punished. The Taliban always defend their misogynistic rules and practices by citing Sharia law and justify their necessity.

2) informal letters, informal messages

The Taliban usually send messages and call their target persons from unknown addresses and phone numbers and threaten them to stop opposing or surrender. They have hundreds of fake accounts on Facebook and social media, which they try to identify opposition and protesting people and organizations in Afghanistan and find their addresses. By creating an atmosphere of fear and terror in the virtual world, some of these unknown Taliban issue fatwas against women, against women's education and against unhijab, and threaten opponents and women with death, throwing acid and rape. In order to deflect criticism and condemnation, the Taliban deny their connection with these "unknown people". One of the recent examples of this type of informal activity of the Taliban is the threatening letter of January 28, which threatens women without hijab with death. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid did not accept the responsibility of spreading this threat. But according to Liberty Radio/Radio Azadi, how is it possible that without permission and coordination with the Taliban police and intelligence, one person can distribute hundreds of leaflets in broad daylight and no one stops her and arrests her?

3) secret arrests, torture and mysterious murders

The intelligence of the Taliban in Kabul and other big cities of Afghanistan kidnaps and detains the dissidents and protesting women and then they deny their involvement in the incident. They conduct these operations mostly at night. They transfer the detained people to their official or private prisons and torture them to get more information from them.

For example, on January 19, 2022, dozens of armed people stormed the house of Tamna Periani in Kabul city at night, so they arrested her and her three sisters and took them to an unknown place. In the first few weeks of this incident, the Taliban denied their involvement in the detention of these young protesting girls. However, according to the BBC report on February 8, 2022, after Ms. Periani and her three sisters, as well as several other protesting women named Parwana Ebrahim Khel, Zarmina, Shafiqa and Karima, were detained and disappeared in Kabul, the Taliban spokesman said that this group is not involved in the disappearance of these women and called the reports "baseless" and rumours. But as a result of UNAMA's intervention and great pressure from the international community, the "missing" women were finally released from Taliban prisons after 26 days of torture and forced confessions.

In its December 10, 2021 report, Radio Azadi/Radio Liberty says that "more than two months have passed since the death of Forozan Safi, a civil society activist in Balkh, a mysterious death that is still unclear as to who or what group is behind it." Abdulrahman Safi, the father of Farozan Safi, 29 years old, says that he does not know anything about the identity of the other three women whose bodies were found together with the body of Forozan Safi. Radio Azadi adds, "More than three months have passed since the beginning of the new rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan, no independent international or domestic organization has released statistics about the serial killing of women.However, Human Rights Watch said in a report on November 30 that after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, more than a hundred security and defense forces of the previous regime have been executed without trial or forcibly disappeared in four provinces of Afghanistan”.

Also, Nimrokh weekly writes in its report on November 18, 2022: One morning in Kabul city, "just at the moment when everyone was moving in their direction, the sight of a woman's dead body with a large stone placed on her stomach terrified some.

The next day, residents of another neighborhood found the dead bodies of three other women; The dead bodies had been placed in a bag and dumped in a non-residential area. It is not only Kabul where such terrible things happen. Every day, we all read news from different cities in Afghanistan that a woman was mysteriously murdered."

Likewise, according to the report of Rukhshana Media on March 26, 2022, "At least 45 women have lost their lives during the seven and a half months of Taliban rule due to stoning, mysterious murders, suicides, Taliban shootings, and family violence. In addition, two of the women have been missing for a long time”.

The Taliban do not investigate the killing of these women themselves and prosecute the murderer, nor do they allow impartial domestic or foreign authorities to investigate these cases.

Finally, the latest example of mysterious murders is the brutal murder of Ms. Mursal Nabizada, a former MP and women's rights activist, who was killed by “unknown gunmen” on January 15, 2023, in her home in Kabul.

The Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women calls on those countries that claim to support democracy and defend women's rights to take a serious stance against the misogynistic policies and actions of the Taliban and not be indifferent to the killing and imprisonment of women and the deprivation of their human rights. We should not give more points to the Taliban and fall prey to their false promises. The Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women calls on all organizations and personalities defending women's rights to cooperate and support Afghan women in their struggle to free themselves from the hell of "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan".

Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women
Kabul, Afghanistan

January 18, 2023

Press Release

Don't let more protesting women be killed and imprisoned

Mursal Nabizada, a women's rights activist and former member of the Afghan Parliament, was killed and her 17-year-old brother was wounded by “unknown” gunmen at her home in Kabul on January 15, 2023. After the Taliban returned to power in August 2021 and the Afghan parliament was dissolved, she quit and lived in Kabul. She criticized the misogynist, anti-science, anti-civil liberties policies of the religious Taliban regime. She supported the Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women who fight for education, work, freedom and women's rights. Before her death, Ms. Nabizada had raised her concerns several times with her friends and some national and international organizations defending women's rights regarding security threats to her life. But unfortunately, no human rights organization and no country claiming to defend human rights and women's rights helped Ms. Nabizada in time until she was finally killed.

Portrait of Mursal Nabizada seated wearing a black suit and white headscarf and speaking into a microphone

Mursal was 32 years old and was from the eastern province of Nangarhar. Before being elected to the Wolesi Jirga of Afghanistan (Afghan Parliament), she was the head teacher of a school and always participated in social activities.

After the Taliban came to power and adopted a misogynistic and vengeful policy against educated and intellectual women of Afghanistan, the intelligence of the Taliban under the name of "unknown persons" killed dozens of women and imprisoned and tortured hundreds of others. On the one hand, the Taliban want girls to grow up illiterate by closing the gates of schools and educational centers for girls, and by banning girls from studying in universities, they deprive women and girls of higher education. On the other hand, women who are highly educated and who understand and defend their rights are killed by the Taliban to eliminate any resistance to their rule. According to their specific religious beliefs, the Taliban deny the human identity of women and do not consider them entitled to any human and civil rights.

Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women strongly condemns the innocent murder of Mursal Nabizada and holds the misogynistic Taliban regime responsible for it. Because the Taliban's systematic exclusion of women from various social fields, which means promoting violence and formalizing sexual apartheid against women, has caused an increase in violence against women at the level of families and society.

Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women calls on women's rights organizations, human rights organizations and progressive forces of the world to support the brave struggle of Afghan women and girls against the theocratic and misogynistic regime. We should not be more spectators of killing, torturing and imprisoning women by the Taliban. Currently, hundreds of women intellectuals protesting the policies of the Taliban are hiding due to security threats from the Taliban, and they may face the fate of Mursal Nabizada at any moment. They need your help and immediate action today, tomorrow may be too late.

Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women
Kabul, Afghanistan

January 18, 2023

The appearance of women in the city without a Mahram [male family member] is forbidden

The Taliban are making the space for women in Afghanistan more and more limited with each passing day. Ahmad Shah Dinparast, the Taliban governor in Ghor province, has ordered the police not to let women roam around the city without a Mahram [male blood relative permitted as an escort]. After the Taliban prevented girls from going to school and university, from parks and public baths, and from working in government institutions and non-govermental organizations, now they tend to prevent even women from going to the doctor and receiving treatment, buying their daily necessities in the local market.

The governor of the Taliban emphasizes that to leave the house, it is not enough for women to wear full hijab, they must also be accompanied by an adult Mahram man. If young girls and women violate this order of the Taliban, the religious police of the Taliban will beat and punish not only the woman or girl, but also the male members of her family.

Following the implementation of the anti-women decree of the Taliban, Ghor province has taken on a completely masculine face and no women are seen in the city or outside the house. This means that the Taliban have imprisoned women and girls in their homes with this order.

On the other hand, after the rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the situation of women's human rights has worsened and domestic violence, marriages with underage girls, forced marriages, polygamy of Taliban people and finally women's suicide have reached their peak.

Photo of four women holding protest messages written on whitepaper and totally blocking their faces

Campaign: from house to street to overthrow the Taliban

These days, protesting women in some provinces of Afghanistan have launched a protest campaign called "from house to street to overthrow the Taliban" against the despotic and misogynist regime of the Taliban. Due to the brutal repression of the Taliban, they are forced to share their voices with mass media and people in different ways. They make short video clips with their faces covered, writing some of their slogans and demands on flipcharts and reading:

➢ I was a student. But because I am a woman, I am not allowed to go to university.

➢ I am a journalist, but I do not have the right to freedom of expression

➢ I was an employee in an NGOs, but I am not allowed to work.

➢ The Taliban have imprisoned us in our homes because we are women. But we will not give up.

➢ Death to the misogynistic dictator

➢ From the house to the street to overthrow the Taliban

One of the protesting women says that she not only as a woman but also as an Afghan citizen wants the Taliban regime to be overthrown. She states that she never like to study, work or live under the umbrella of the Taliban government.

Women write, Taliban erase Every night in Kabul and Herat, protesting women of "Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women" write anti-Taliban slogans and their demands on city walls and streets, but the Taliban government erases them. The anti-feminist government of the Taliban is afraid of women's demonstrations and the voice of women's awakening and protest, and they always try to suppress it. Taliban intelligence is trying to identify, arrest, torture and even kill protesting women.

Photo of woman painting a protest statement in black on a white painted surface where Taliban had painted over earlier protest graffiti

Women's protests getting the sympathy of families and men

After the Taliban brutally suppressed women's protests in the streets and imprisoned the protesters, the women never retreated and their struggle continues. This struggle has not only been reduced in the form of mass presence in the street, but has spread within each family and has also gained the support of the men of the families. Sayed Akram, a resident of Kabul, who has three young daughters, is worried about his daughters' education and future. He supports the struggle of his three daughters for the reopening of girls' schools and universities.

Ruhollah from Nangarhar Province, who lost both his eyesight in the war, is worried about his family's economic problems. He says that his wife was working in one of the foreign institutions and she was the only breadwinner in the family of ten people. After the Taliban banned women from working in domestic and foreign institutions, she lost her job and currently has no other income to support her family. He asks men and youth to support women's protests for bread, work, education and freedom.

The demands of Afghan women are becoming more radical

Afghan women's protests began in Kabul and other Afghan cities at the same time as the Taliban came to power in August 2021. From the beginning, these protests were accompanied by the slogan "bread, work, freedom". The spontaneous movement of Afghan women never left the battlefield due to the fear of being beaten, arrested, tortured and imprisoned by the Taliban and they continue to fight for their denied rights.

Although some women affiliated with the "National Resistance Front" under the leadership of former warlords and human rights violators, as well as some famous women who held high positions in Ashraf Ghani's government, tried to sabotage the protest of brave women. They attempted to sell Afghan women on compromise and deal with the Taliban and Taliban supporters to get their share in the Taliban government under the so-called inclusive government. But the women and girls of Afghanistan are now fully alert and have the experience not to fall prey to the deception of the open and secret deals of the Taliban and resistance fighters affiliated with warmonger countries.

The Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women not only fights for "bread, right to work, education and freedom" for women, but also believes that in the presence of the Taliban government or the so-called comprehensive government consisting of the Taliban, former warlords and corrupt officials in Ashraf and Karzai government, it is impossible to provide women's rights and freedom and social welfare. Therefore, the women and people of Afghanistan neither accept the Taliban government nor want the return of the corrupt officials of the previous government. Afghan women are in favor of the immediate overthrow of the Taliban government and the establishment of a democratic and secular government.

January 6, 2023

Report from Afghanistan – first week of January

Photo of woman with two young blind girls

The Taliban have no mercy on disabled women and girls

Following the closure of schools, universities and all women's educational centers, the Taliban government also closed two educational and support centers for blind women and girls in eastern Afghanistan on January 3, 2023. They closed a school for women and girls in Nangarhar province and an educational center for blind girls and women in Kunar province. Four months ago, the Taliban had prevented the education of blind girls in Balkh province.

As a result of war and explosions, poverty and defective birth, according to the World Health Organization's estimate, there are 450,000 blind people and about one and a half million people with defective vision in Afghanistan. It is clear that half of this disabled population is made up of women and girls who face many problems at the family and community level due to their gender. Among this large population of blind people, only about 20% of them were covered by special education in Kabul, Nangarah, Herat, Balkh and other provinces of Afghanistan.

Due to their misogynistic nature, the Taliban not only did not support this vulnerable population, but also took away the educational and support facilities that were provided for them by some institutions and made this vulnerable group hopeless.

In the educational center for the blind in Nangarhar province, live 20 blind girls under the age of eight who are currently facing the Taliban's order to ban them from education.

No need for women's education and jobs

Nada Mohammad Nadim, Minister of Higher Education of the Taliban, says that Afghanistan has about 40 million population, of which 20 million are men. Therefore, if men work and study, there is no need for women's jobs and education. According to Islamic Sharia, this Taliban minister argues that it is obligatory for the male members of the family to provide alimony for the female members. It is the duty of the man of every family to work and provide expenses and alimony his family. He adds that common sense dictates that men should work, not women.

Imprisoning a civil society activist

On January 1st, the administration of the Taliban in Ghor province sentenced Ahmad Majidi, one of the civil society activists, to three months in prison for criticizing the Taliban group. On his Facebook page, Mr. Majidi had criticized the Taliban for banning women from work and education, and had asked to open the gates of girls' schools and universities for women. It should be remembered that the misogynistic Taliban regime severely suppresses any protest and criticism in defense of women's rights and civil liberties, and threatens, imprisons and kills protestors. Currently, dozens of people are under brutal torture in the official and private prisons of the Taliban, and hundreds of protesting women are on the list under the Taliban's persecution.

Taliban tried 10 Afghan media in absentia

The Ministry of Information and Culture of the Taliban has announced that the government court of this group has issued an absent warrant on January 2, 2023 for the officials of ten Afghan media outlets who are abroad. The Taliban accuses these ten media outlets of spreading propaganda against the Taliban government.

The Taliban ask the Afghan media to work inside Afghanistan, and according to Mr. Hammad, one of the Taliban's spokespersons, the media that operate outside of Afghanistan and propagate against the Taliban regime are not allowed to operate.

Human Rights Watch and Committee to Protect Journalists and other journalist networks in Afghanistan report daily on Taliban violence and suppression of freedom of expression. Due to repression, censorship and harassment of journalists inside Afghanistan by the Taliban, journalism and media activities in Afghanistan have been severely limited. Because of this, the situation is disgraceful and the atmosphere of threats and terror is such that the majority of journalists have left their jobs or have been forced to leave Afghanistan.

Women holding spray paint can and writing protest graffiti on a large white wall

The continuation of women's protests in Afghanistan:

1- Burning pictures of the Taliban

Some Afghan women have released a video showing female protesters burning pictures of Taliban leaders. Protesting women against the ban on women's work and education in Afghanistan, they set fire to the pictures of the leaders of the Taliban and shout “Death to the Taliban”.

2- Cemetery of girls' wishes

Some women and girls in Bamyan Province have recorded a protest video against the ban on women's education by the Taliban. In this video, it can be seen that protesting women say that Afghanistan has become a nightmare for girls. Under the rule of the misogynistic Taliban, Afghanistan has become a graveyard of wishes for girls. They question, when will this violence end? They ask all Afghan women and girls to "Let us Afghan women and girls be a united voice"!

3- Afghanistan under Taliban rule, prison for women

Protesting women in Nimroz province in western Afghanistan show in a video published that the misogynistic Taliban regime took away all women's rights and instead of providing work, education and freedom for women, they turned Afghanistan into a prison for women and girls. and now women are deprived of all their human rights.

4- The Taliban's misogynist policy must be fought

An Afghan female protester said in an interview with a television that the problem of women and girls with the Taliban in Afghanistan goes beyond closing universities to girls. This lady states that the Taliban may give in to the pressure and open the gates of the universities to deceive the "international community" to recognize them. She adds that the problem lies in the Taliban's misogynist policy, which does not recognize women as human beings and citizens of Afghanistan and has deprived them of their rights.

5- Do something immediately

Some girls in Faryab province in northern Afghanistan, in their protest video, request the "international community" to do something immediately for the women and girls of Afghanistan. These girls protest against the Taliban's decision and ask the "international community" not to recognize the Taliban. They emphasize that this type of treatment by the Taliban is not acceptable for any woman or girl.

6- The secret of our victory is our awareness and unity

In a recently released video, some women protesting in Kabul chanted "bread, work, freedom - global solidarity" and chanted "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, we are all together!" These protesting women, who had written their slogans on each side of their hands, at the end, by showing their united hands, chanted that the secret of our women's victory lies in our awareness and unity.

Photo of five arms with fists meeting in the middle, and each arm has blue Arabic writing on them saying Bread or Work or Freedom

7- Writing anti-Taliban slogans on the walls

In Herat province in western Afghanistan, a number of girls are seen who were writing their slogans and demands on the walls. In opposition to the Taliban's decision to ban women's work and education, they wrote the slogans of education for women and let girls go to school on the walls of the city.

8- Western authorities were never honest

An Afghan woman protester says in a published video: "We have to accept that Westerners have never told the truth, especially to the people of Afghanistan. We must fight to change our destiny on our own. The problem of Afghanistan cannot be solved only by opening the doors of schools and universities. We continue our struggle to fundamentally change the structure of the system. We can do it together with our brothers, nothing is impossible.”

Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women Kabul, Afghanistan

December 27, 2022

Systematic deprivation of women is a crime against humanity

Three boys and two girls studying school papers while sitting on a concrete floor around a small lantern

The Taliban, regardless of the protests of Afghan women and the neutral reaction of the "international community", continue their systematic misogynist actions against Afghan women. On Saturday, December 25, 2023, the Islamic Emirate of the Taliban issued an order in which domestic and foreign Non Governmental Organization (NGOs) were ordered to suspend the duties of all female employees.

In response to this order of the Taliban, foreign charities operating in Afghanistan suspended their activities and condemned this order of the Taliban. With the closure of the offices of foreign and domestic institutions, tens of thousands of their employees will be unemployed which will result in increase of the level of poverty and multiplication of the number of beggars in the society

The Taliban had previously expelled all women from government offices and the private sector. The decree banning the work of thousands of women in charity organizations in Afghanistan follows last week's decree in which the Taliban banned girls from studying in universities. The Minister of Higher Education of the Islamic Emirate clearly stated that for them, the implementation of religious and Sharia rules is more important than national interests, civilization, progress, and women's rights.

The Taliban know that educated, informed and economically self-reliant women will never submit to the inhuman restrictions of the Taliban and political Islam. Therefore, the Taliban prevent the education of women and do not allow women to work and perform duties outside the home.

Based on their radical beliefs about Islam, the Taliban deny the human identity of women and treat them as a means of quenching men's sexual lust and reproductive machines. After the Taliban regained power in August 2021, the majority of Taliban leaders and those who had access to more financial resources got married for the third and fourth time. They take advantage of the poverty and need of the families and by offering money, threatening with guns and using governmental and religious powers, they force underage girls into marriage. Since in Islamic Sharia, a man cannot have more than four wives in his marriage at the same time, Therefore, when the wives of some Taliban fall ill, they do not take the trouble to take them to the doctor for treatment, rather they prefer to let their wife die so that the Shari'a ground for the next marriage with an underage girl can be prepared

If the Taliban's hostility towards Afghan women is on the one hand an expression of their anti-human way of thinking, on the other hand, they intend to gain more privileges from the "international community" by taking the oppressed women of Afghanistan hostage. With this trick, in the second step, the Taliban will force the "international community" to recognize the Islamic Emirate of the Taliban after some time in exchange for the reopening of girls' schools in the framework of Sharia.

But the spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women believes that whether the Islamic Emirate of the Taliban is recognized or not, it cannot live longer with such misogynistic actions and systematic discrimination against women. The behind-the-scenes games and negotiations of the Taliban leaders and the "international community" in Qatar, which actually sacrifice Afghan women and civil liberties, are not surprising to the Afghan people. The people of Afghanistan will not be fooled by the empty promises and crocodile tears of the "international community" anymore. For this reason, Afghan women and youth are fighting for their rights, for their future, against the misogynistic Islamic Emirate of the Taliban, and every day they raise their voices in the streets and everywhere else possible.

Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women
Kabul, Afghanistan

December 25, 2022

Afghan women's protests continue and became nationwide

In a street in Nimroz a group of women in black robes and one wearing a red coat hold up signs saying Education is for all as men watch from the background

Following the Taliban's ban on the education of women and girls in universities and schools, women and girls, students and young people showed their anger and opposition in various ways and started protesting all over the country on Sunday, Dec 25, 2022. The general slogan of all the protests was "all or no one ("Education for All or for No one)", which shows the awakening and solidarity of the Afghan youth protest movement against the Taliban. At the same time as the street protests, male students of at least 10 universities in different provinces have gone on strike and refused to go to classes.

In the provinces of Parwan and Kapisa, protesting women carried the following slogans: "Education for All or for No one", "Justice, justice, we are tired of ignorance", "Rise up, fellow countrymen, let's take back women's rights", "We women are awake, we hate discrimination", "Afghanistan has been destroyed, by order of the Taliban"

In Nimroz province, protestors against the ban on women's higher education said that this decision has neither a Sharia nor a rational justification. They chanted "the right to education for all".

Protesting women in Herat province were chanting: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, we are all together". They condemned the misogynist action of the Taliban by marching in the streets of Herat city. But the Taliban used guns and sprinklers to supress the protestors. In a published video, it can be seen that one of the Taliban men tries to convince the protesting girls to abandon the demonstration and go to their homes,But a protesting woman bravely replies that the women have been at home for a year and the problem has not been solved, now they will not return home.

In another protest action, some women and girls of Herat province chanted "Education is our right" from the roof of their houses at night.

In Kabul province, in addition to the valorously protests and slogans of “Education, Work and Freedom”, some girls inside the city distributed pens and papers to passers-by as gifts with the words: "Don't forget your education."

In another protest action on Sunday in Kabul Province, a number of others are seen in a video burning pictures of Taliban leaders and carrying the slogan "right, justice, freedom" in protest against girls' exclusion from education.

The refusal of male students

Likewise, on Sunday, male students of the fourth grade of Kabul University's Faculty of Economics wrote in their letter of protest that " fighting against discriminatory decisions is their responsibility."They announced their commitment thatt "they will not attend their classes until the universities’ gates are opened for their sisters."In this protest letter, concern was expressed that the Taliban's decision will lead to a major educational crisis in Afghanistan and will destroy the future of several generations.. Moreover, in their letter of protest, students of the fourth grade of the Faculty of Urban Planning Engineering of Kabul University have boycotted attending their classes until girls return to universities and they called the Taliban's decision to ban girls' education "unfair and illegitimate".

The medical students of Herat University and the students of Ghalib Private University's Faculty of Economics announced in solidarity with the female students that they will not attend their classes.

Similarly, in Balkh Province, the male students of the Faculty of Computer Science declared that they will not attend classes until the universities reopen to girls.

In the continuation of the protests, the students of the Faculty of Geology and Mines of Kabul Polytechnic University also joined the protestors, and in their statement they called the ban on women's education "gender apartheid".

A group of male students of "Afghan Pamir Institute of Higher Education" in Kabul protested against the prohibition of women's higher education and left the exam hall and did not participate in the exam.

However, in Kandahar province on Saturday, when the students of Mirwais Nikah University, who were planning to boycott the exam and leave the university in protest against the prohibition of women's higher education, the Taliban prevented the students from doing so and beat them.

During the protests of women and youth in the provinces of Nangarhar, Kabul, Takhar, Herat, Kandahar, Balkh, Parwan and Kapisa, dozens of protesters have been beaten and injured, and dozens more have been arrested by the Taliban and taken to an unknown place.

Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women
Kabul, Afghanistan

December 22, 2022

The Taliban bans girls from studying in universities

Young woman standing in the dark looking at a giant book with the cover ajar like a door with a huge padlock on it and seeing beautiful sunny day

According to the decree dated December 20, 2022 of the Taliban government in Afghanistan, the gates of all public and private universities were closed to Afghan girls. On Wednesday, when some girls were in the last week of their annual exams and some wanted to attend their classes, the religious police of the Taliban did not allow them to enter the university and attend their classes.

While the fierce struggle and widespread protests were going on to reopen the gates of girls' schools from the sixth to the twelfth grades, the misogynistic administration of the Taliban in Kabul not only ignored the legal demand of Afghan women and girls, but now, with their new order, they deprived them of higher education as well.

Mojdeh Azim, a fourth-year student at Herat University, says, "I have never been so upset as when I heard that we no longer have the right to go to university." Likewise, Sabra, a student at Kabul University,questions why the whole world is silent in front of "Taliban oppression" and does not show any reaction? "This is not acceptable for a girl who has arrived here after sixteen years with money from embroidering and weaving carpets and wanted to become a doctor. I studied with all my heart for four years. There was only one year left for me to finish university." Sakineh Sama, one of the third year female university students in Kabul, wrote in her Facebook page that she is no longer allowed to enter the university because she was born a girl. She has added: "Being a girl is a heavy crime, and tonight I want to curse my creator for making me to be so miserable and humiliated."

In response to this inhumane and discriminatory decision of the Taliban government, female and male students protested in different provinces including Nangarhar, Kabul and Takhar and chanted "Education for all or for no one!" Higher Education, Work and Freedom!", "Compatriots, join us!", "Neutral is dishonorable!". In Kabul and Takhar province, the Taliban violently suppressed the women's demonstrations, beat the protesters, took their mobile phones, shot in the air, and detained at least ten protesting women and several journalists. In Nangarhar Medical University, male students in solidarity with female students walked out of their classes and left their exam papers blank.

During the last three days, more than 60 university professors in Kunduz; Kabul; Kandahar; Takhar; Bamiyan; Nimroz, Herat, Balkh, Nangarhar, and other provinces have resigned from their duties in protest against the anti-women decision of the Taliban and consider serving in such an anti-science and anti-woman regime as an insult to their human dignity. Obaidullah Wardak was the first professor who resigned from his position at Kabul University due to systematic discrimination against women. He, who has been teaching at the Faculty of Mathematics of Kabul University for 10 years, says: "Before, there were many problems in the field of higher education; But with this latest decision of the Taliban, unfortunately I could not continue my duty in this way and with this system". Abdul Reza Motmaen, a professor at Paktia University's Faculty of Agriculture, who shared his resignation letter on his Facebook, said that “working in such an environment is treason”. Amir Arslan Khorasanpour, a professor at the Faculty of Journalism at the Fanous Institute of Higher Education in Kabul, says: "This is a decision that paralyzes half of society. I was completely disappointed with this behavior of the Taliban”.

Before this decision, the Taliban had imposed brutal and inhuman punishments on female students. For example, full observance of hijab, having a Mahram man when traveling, separating girls’ classes from boys’ classes, teaching female professors for girls, specifying separate class days in the week for girls and boys, etc.

Meanwhile, Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US representative for Afghanistan and one of the signatories of the February 2020 Doha agreement between the US and the Taliban, called the Taliban's recent move to ban girls' higher education "shocking and incomprehensible" in a statement. In fact, Khalilzad is shedding crocodile tears to deceive the people of the world and Afghanistan, and with this ridiculous expression of sympathy, he still wants to justify the agreement handing over the power of Afghanistan to this misogynistic and anti-science group. But for Afghan women, this action of the Taliban was not something new and unpredictable. Now, it should be clear to the governments that support the Taliban, who give them forty million dollars a week in aid, that there has been no improvement in the way the Taliban think about women, civil rights and civil liberties. Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have turned Afghanistan into a hellish model for women. The Taliban have no plan to reduce poverty, create employment and provide social welfare except for the implementation of Sharia laws, elimination and enslavement of women, suppression of the voice of justice and promotion of violence and terrorism.

The Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women, by condemning this decision and action of the Taliban against women, promises the women and girls of Afghanistan that they will not submit to any pressure and coercion of the Taliban, but will continue their protests and struggle throughout Afghanistan. We ask the women's movements and women's rights activists around the world to stand by the women of Afghanistan in this catastrophic and unbearable situation and support the fight for justice and equality for women in Afghanistan.

Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women
Kabul, Afghanistan

December 10, 2022.

The Taliban commit crimes and the "international community" watches

Taliban man with machine gun pointed at the head of a kneeling woman with three others nearby watching

On the occasion of December 10th, the International Human Rights Day, the Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women expresses its deep concern about the widespread and heinous violation of human rights and women's rights in Afghanistan. While human rights defender organizations report shocking news about the violation of human rights and women's rights by the Taliban, no positive change is observed in the Taliban's performance, on the contrary, it takes on wider and more terrifying dimensions. It is unfortunate that the so-called human rights defender international community sees so many crimes and human rights violations every day in Afghanistan, but they ignore it due to their political considerations and strategic interests. They shed crocodile tears only by "condemning" and "expressing concern"!

On December 8, 2022, on the eve of International Human Rights Day, the Taliban flogged 18 men and 9 women in the presence of thousands of people at the sports stadium of Parwan province. Accused persons were whipped beyond a fair and specialized trial, without access to a defense lawyer, against the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and human dignity. And on the same day, they lashed three others in Paktika province in public. Above all, on the 6th of December, while most of the cabinet members and high-ranking officials of the Taliban were present at the scene, they executed a young suspect in accordance with Islamic Shari'a in the sports ground of Farah Province in public.With such cruel actions, the Taliban sent a message to the world that this extremist group does not adhere to any law, principle and value of human rights, and the symbolic pressures of the "international community" cannot prevent their activities and the implementation of Islamic law.

The Taliban, with the force of arms left from the United States and NATO and forty million dollars weekly aid from the "international community" have been killing, torturing and humiliating Afghan people and women every day in public. So that by creating a trauma, the Taliban aim to deprive people of the courage to protest and resist.

In the current period, like the period of their first rule from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban has pushed Afghanistan to the age of medieval barbarism by applying Islamic Sharia law. They have no plans and capacity to reduce poverty and provide health, educational and social services. According to Mullah Hasan Akhund, the Prime Minister of the Taliban Emirate, the Taliban government is not responsible for providing food to the people of Afghanistan, and the people should beg for it from God! The Taliban believe that they have a duty from God to implement his orders, which are Islamic law, in God's land.

According to the World Food Program, 89 percent of the people of Afghanistan are facing food shortage. And families sell their children to survive. A recent Gallup research shows that 98 percent of women and 97 percent of men in Afghanistan consider their life a great suffering, the suicide rate of women has increased and more than 20 million people suffer from hunger.

“In January of this year, the International Labour Organization estimated that job losses could reach 900,000 by midyear, and other recent data show more Afghans are turning to self-employment and low-productivity jobs.” In the current climate, nine in 10 Afghans say they are finding it “difficult” or “very difficult” to get by on their present household income.”

The Taliban should know that history has proven that the more oppression, injustice and lawlessness increase in a country, the more its rulers make their own graves. The oppressed people and deprived women of Afghanistan will never surrender to the Taliban's brutal atrocities and misogynistic laws and will resist and fight for its complete overthrow.

Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women
Kabul, Afghanistan

November 25, 2022

Report on November 25 gathering of women in Kabul

Afghan women at a national gathering in Kabul listening to a woman speak to them.

On Nov 25, 2022 the Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women held a national gathering in Kabul. In addition to women and activists from Kabul province, several representatives of women activists from Balkh, Laghman and Herat provinces also joined this meeting. Due to security challenges and the suppression of the Taliban regime, this meeting was not public.

Ozra Zafar, one of the organizers of the event, highlighted the goals of the gathering, insisting on resistance for women's rights and freedom, and raising the voice of the suffering women of Afghanistan. At the same time, she emphasized the importance of international solidarity with the struggle of Afghan women against the misogynistic Islamic regime of the Taliban.

Mrs. Parveen, the representative of women of Herat province, told the participants that the Taliban expelled all women from the public and private sectors, and because of the poverty, the families were forced to sell their children and marry young girls to very old men. Mrs. Marzia from Balkh Province pointed out how the Taliban chase women protesters and imprison and kill them. The representative of women of Laghan province, Ms. Farzia, stated that the Taliban government, in addition to family, cultural and religious violence against women, discriminates against women and deprives them of every basic right, such as access to education, work and social services.

Ms. Zafar revealed that according to research by women's rights organizations, violence against women has increased in the last 15 months of Taliban rule, and more than 4,500 cases of violence have been recorded.

It goes without saying that among the participants, there were also 4 female activists who were recently released from the terrible prisons of the Taliban. They shared their horrific stories of torture and inhuman treatment by the Taliban with the participants.

Meanwhile, the participants expressed their solidarity with the imprisoned women and the victims of the violence of the Taliban, they lit candles and collected around 9000 Afghanis as a donation for the imprisoned women families.

At the end of this meeting, a resolution was approved and read, calling on the women of Afghanistan to never give up, but to organize, because the victory will belong to those awake women and freedom-loving people.

Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women
Kabul, Afghanistan

October 28, 2022

Afghan women need your solidarity

By Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women
Kabul, Afghanistan

Group of Afghan women marching carrying signs saying Stop Hazara Genocide and one holding up her hand with red paint on the palm

Group of Afghan women marching carrying signs saying Stop Hazara Genocide and one holding up her hand with red paint on the palm

From Gandhara “Afghan women protest on October 1st against the attack on students in Kabul the day before"

Today, Afghan women live under the most misogynistic regime, where they are deprived of all their human and civil rights. For this reason, Afghan women activists formed their own protest movement after the Taliban rule in August 2021, which has been organizing women's protests in the cities of Kabul, Jalalabad, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif and Bamiyan with the slogans (bread, work, freedom).

When women protest and demonstrate against the violation of their rights, the Taliban police brutally suppress them, beat them and threaten them with prison and death. Taliban security forces prevent journalists from filming, taking pictures and reporting the Taliban's violent behavior with protesting women.

Taliban intelligence identifies women activists and participants in demonstrations, arrests them during demonstrations, at the end of protests or later from their homes and imprisons and tortures them in their official or private prisons. (The new report of the United Nations September 2022: confirms the existence of private Taliban prisons and the torture of prisoners)

The Taliban usually attack the houses of protesting women at night, after arresting them, they transfer them to unknown places and then deny the responsibility of the arrest and attack. It is not known how many women protestors and freedom fighters are imprisoned in the official and private prisons of the Taliban and in what condition they are. Because domestic and foreign human rights organizations and the families of prisoners do not have access to them. Some women who were released from Taliban prisons spoke of torture, sexual assault, threats to kill family members, lack of access to a lawyer, and lack of communication with family members.

In addition to dozens of women fighters and protesters who are in terrible Taliban prisons, or tens of others who have been killed by people affiliated with the Taliban, there are currently hundreds of other fighting women as socialist, secular, feminist, civil society activists, women's rights defenders, journalists, teachers, university and high school students, and housewives under the prosecution of the Taliban and they are forced to live in hiding. While the intelligence of the Taliban is in control of all the cities and regions of Afghanistan, it is possible to identify their whereabouts at any moment, and for this reason, the lives of wanted protesting women are in serious danger.

Therefore, the demand of the "Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women" from women fighters and progressive forces in the US, Latin America, Australian, Europe and other countries of the world is as follows:

---Forming an International Committee for the Defense of Afghan Women Protesters

---Requesting support from major international organizations defending women's rights and human rights in order to identify women imprisoned in official and private prisons of the Taliban

---Launching an international campaign for the release of protesting women from Taliban prisons

---Lobbying for the protection of wanted and endangered women in Afghanistan

---Creating international women's solidarity with women fighters in Afghanistan

---Collecting financial aid for the families of imprisoned and wanted women

Hunger Strike against Gender Apartheid

No to the government of the Taliban and human rights violators, forward to establish a democratic and secular government

The Taliban responds to women's calls for freedom with bullets and violence

Statement Regarding the “Oslo Freedom Forum” and the Invitation of Taliban Representatives

The United Nations retreats against the Taliban

International Day of Women in Afghanistan

Detention, torture and killing of women continues

Recognizing the Taliban is a betrayal of women and democracy!

International Day of Women in Afghanistan

Detention, torture and killing of women continues

From misogynist official decrees to unofficial warnings: Killing and violence against women continues

Don't let more protesting women be killed and imprisoned

The appearance of women in the city without a Mahram [male family member] is forbidden

Report from Afghanistan – first week of January

Systematic deprivation of women is a crime against humanity

Afghan women's protests continue and became nationwide

The Taliban bans girls from studying in universities

The Taliban commit crimes and the "international community" watches

Report on November 25 gathering of women in Kabul

Afghan women need your solidarity

From misogynist official decrees to unofficial warnings:
Killing and violence against women continues