Statements from the Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women
Kabul, Afghanistan

Feb 12, 2023

Detention, torture and killing of women continues

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

February 2, 2023

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

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.




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.




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.




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

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.




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.




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

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

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

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

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

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