Afghanistan: US envoy claims 29 women & their families are detained by Taliban in Kabul

In Kabul, Afghanistan, 29 women and their families have been detained by the Taliban, a senior US official claimed on Saturday. As per the reports of the Guardian, these women were among the 40 people apprehended on Friday, as per Rina Amiri, US special envoy for Afghan Women, Girls, and Human Rights. On Twitter, the envoy stated that these unfair detentions must end, but the Tweet was later deleted for unknown reasons.

Last week, Rina Amiri stated in a Tweet that these arbitrary detentions have to end and that if the Taliban are to gain legitimacy among Afghans and the rest of the world, they must respect Afghans' human rights, particularly women's rights, including freedom of expression. She then urged the Taliban to release these women, their families, and other activists immediately.

Taliban freed a group of journalists on Friday after outrage

After an international outrage over their arrest, the Taliban freed a group of journalists on Friday, which included two foreigners, according to the Guardian. They also released an activist who had been missing since a women's rights march. Other female activists, some of whom were kidnapped in the middle of the night and are still being held captive, have not been released. The Taliban police and the interior ministry denied having anything to do with their detention.

UN Secretary-General stated that he is concerned for the safety of Afghanistan's missing female activists. On Thursday, António Guterres claimed on Twitter that a number of people have disappeared, some of whom have been missing for weeks. He further stated that he implores the Taliban to ensure their safety so that they can return home.

Rights advocates label disappearances as a campaign of intimidation

After the Taliban imposed laws that barred girls from secondary education and women from jobs outside the health and education sectors, rights advocates labelled the disappearances as a campaign of intimidation. Heather Barr, Human Rights Watch's associate director for women's rights, stated that every disappearance exposes one of Afghanistan's most serious problems today, which is a lack of law.

She further said that this is not how a government acts and that it demonstrates their callousness in thinking they can just take women and deny them, according to the Guardian.

Image: AP