The Taliban stormed a press conference convened by a women’s civil society organization and detained activists and journalists in an incident that the UN human rights office has described as «deeply disturbing.»
The events took place on Thursday afternoon, when «de facto’ security officials» interrupted the press conference and detained a woman, Zarifa Yaqobi, a member of the Change Movement for Afghanistan, and four of her male colleagues. These five people remain under arrest and the UN has requested information from the authorities, according to a spokesman for the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Jeremy Laurence.
In addition, the officers held the other women who had attended the event for about an hour in the hall itself. During this time, they allegedly carried out searches and checked the phones of the attendees, according to information released by the United Nations.
Sources quoted by the Jaama Press agency said the Taliban forces stormed the hall, located in a Hazara-majority neighborhood in western Kabul, at gunpoint. Both Hazaras and women have historically been marginalized in Afghanistan, especially with the Taliban in power.
One of the founders of the Change Movement for Afghanistan, Fauzia Kufi, has demanded accountability from the current regime for the «arbitrary arrests carried out» and demanded the right of women to participate in the civil and social life of the Asian country. «More pressure will mean more resistance,» she warned, according to the agency.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also recalled in his note that «all Afghans have the right to assemble peacefully, to freedom of expression and opinion, without fear of arrest or intimidation», for which he also asked the «de facto authorities» not to violate international obligations.
