Even after the Oslo summit, the Taliban continues to arrest and torture Afghan women protesters.

 

On January 19th, a video circulated on social media of Tamana Zaryab Paryani, an Afghan women's rights activist and journalist, pleading for help moments before armed men claiming to be Taliban intelligence broke into her apartment and kidnapped her and three of her sisters. While the men were pounding on her door, Paryani recorded the video on her phone, saying, "Help, please, the Taliban have come to our home... My sisters are the only ones who are [here]."

 

Tamana was leading protests in Kabul and speaking out against the Taliban's restrictions on women and brutality on social media and in international media. Similarly, ParwanaIbrahimkhel and several other protesters were detained in their homes. Most of the women's families are afraid to speak up or identify themselves for fear of endangering other family members.

 

According to Rokhshana Rezai, co-founder of the Afghan Powerful Women's Movement, Tamana and Parwana were arrested by the Taliban for their outspoken voices: "They both fiercely stood up for our basic rights and were arrested by the Taliban and are currently being held by them." There are several witnesses to their arrests, and they all claim the men claimed to be Taliban."

 

The Taliban's spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, denied the women's kidnapping and stated that authorities had the authority to "arrest and detain dissidents or those who break the law."

 

The UN has also expressed concern about the arrests and detonations of civil society activists, journalists, former government and security personnel in Afghanistan. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) announced that it had received credible reports of the Taliban's gross human rights violations. The High Commissioner for Human Rights' spokesperson, RavinaShamdasani, told journalists in Geneva that she is "very concerned" about the protestors' safety and well-being. "We call on the de facto authorities to publicly report on the findings of their investigation into the abduction and disappearance of these women activists and their relatives, to take all necessary steps to ensure their safe and immediate release, and to hold those responsible accountable," saidShamdasani.

Shamdasani also demanded a prompt investigation into the Taliban official's arbitrary arrests and that those responsible for abductions be held accountable in accordance with international human rights law. "All those who may be arbitrarily detained for exercising their rights must be released as soon as possible... We also urge the Taliban leadership to send a clear message to their ranks that there must be no retaliation against people who peacefully demonstrate and exercise their rights to free expression and peaceful assembly."

 

Since seizing Afghanistan on August 15, the Taliban has increasingly violated women's and human rights by imprisoning women and girls and denying them access to jobs, education, and other basic rights. In recent months, there have also been disturbing reports of Afghan women leaders being killed or missing.

 

The Taliban were flown by private jet to Oslo, Norway, on January 21, for a meeting with officials from the United States, the European Union, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Norway. The Taliban agreed to look into the kidnappings of women and civic leaders. Despite those assurances, Afghan journalists are being kidnapped by the Taliban, and women leaders, particularly those who emerged following the Taliban takeover, are being taken to undisclosed locations by Taliban fighters.