Afghanistan: What happened to the women who protested against the Taliban?

After the Taliban limited Afghan children’s ability to work, study and go out in people, some people first defied these new principles, taking to the streets to protest.

But immediately, those who gathered in the capital Kabul and other big cities to require “food, work, independence” felt the full power of the Taliban.

Activists tell the BBC they were beaten, abused, jailed and also threatened with death by stoning.

Three people speak to the Taliban government after it began imposing restrictions on children’s freedom following their assassination on August 15, 2021.

When Taliban insurgents took over Kabul on 15 August 2021, Zakia’s living began to crumble.

Before the Taliban came back to power, she had been the father for her family, but she immediately lost her job following the acquisition.

More than a year afterwards, in December 2022, Zakia ( who is using a pseudonym ) took to the stage of a rally to express her outrage over the loss of the right to work and education.

Protesters were marching to Kabul University, chosen for its” symbolic importance”, but were stopped before they could reach their destination.

When Taliban armed officers put an end to her brief-lived revolution, Zakia was violently yelling phrases.

One of them threatened to kill me right there if I did n’t shut up, she recalls, and one of them pointed his gun right into my mouth.

Zakia witnessed other demonstrators getting into a car.

” I resisted. They were twisting my hands”, she says. The Taliban were attempting to fill me into their car and other activists who were attempting to relieve me, and I was being pulled by them.

In the end, Zakia managed to escape, but what she saw that morning terrified her for the rest of her life.

She claims that murder was occurring on the roads of the capital Kabul in full public view.” Violence was not taking place behind closed doors any more.”

Mariam (not her real name) and 23-year-old student Parwana Ibrahimkhail Nijrabiwere among the many Afghan protesters who were detained after the Taliban takeover.

Mariam was concerned that when the Taliban enacted rules restricting women’s ability to work, she would n’t be able to provide for her family as a widow and sole breadwinner for her children.

She was present at a rally in December 2022. After she saw fellow protesters being arrested, she tried to flee but did n’t get away in time.

” I was strongly pulled out of the car, they searched my backpack and found my phone”, she recalls.

She claims that one of the Taliban officials punched her so tight she thought her hearing disc had burst when she refused to give her pass code.

Therefore they examined the photos and videos on her mobile.

” They got angry and grabbed me by pulling my tresses”, she says. They threw me into the back of their Ranger after they grabbed my hands and legs.

” They were really harsh and constantly called me a whore”, Mariam continues. ” They handcuffed me and put a black case over my head, I could hardly breathe”.

A fortnight later, Parwana also decided to protest against the Taliban, along with a team of other individuals, organising several marches.

However, their deeds were quickly followed up.

According to Parwana,” they started torturing me right away when they arrested me.”

She was forced to stand between two armed male troops.

When I refused to sit it, they moved me to the front, covered my head with a cover, pointed the gun at me, and told me not to move.

In addition to the numerous heavily armed men, Parwana began to feel “weak and like a walking useless.”

As they slapped me so many times, my face became cold. I was therefore scared, my whole body was trembling”.

Mariam, Parwana, and Zakia were all aware of the possible repercussions of common opposition.

Parwana claims she not anticipated the Taliban to” address her like a human being.” She claims that her insulting care has left her speechless.

Her first dinner in prison shocked her.

” I felt a sharp point scratching the dome of my mouth”, she says. ” When I looked at it, it was a nails- I threw up”.

In later meals, she found locks and rocks.

Parwana claims that she was told to go stoned until she was dead, which caused her to cry so hard at night and dream about being stoned while wearing a hat.

The 23-year-old was imprisoned for about a month after being accused of promoting adultery, adultery, and spreading eastern culture.

Mariam was questioned while wearing a black bag over her head for several days while she was housed in a safety facility.

” I could hear several people, one would kick me and ask who paid me to organise]the ] protest”, she recalls. The other would bite me and claim,” Who do you operate for?”

Mariam claims she told her torturers that she was a widow and needed to work to nourish her children, but that her responses were met with more violence.

After being intervened by native elders and human rights organizations, Parwana and Mariam have since stopped living in Afghanistan.

Both claim that they were made to sign revelations in which they admitted to being wrong and promised never to protest against the Taliban.

Additionally, their adult friends also signed official documents promising that the women would refrain from participating in any additional protests.

We made these claims to Zabihullah Mujahid, a senior Taliban official who confirmed that protesters were detained but who also denied receiving poor treatment.

He claimed that some of the people who were detained engaged in hostile government and public safety activities.

He disputes the allegations that the women were tortured, saying that no one in any of the Islamic Emirate’s jails has been tortured, and that our medical teams have even approved their meals.

The BBC’s individual discussions with some protesters following their release confirmed the claims made by Human Rights Watch.

The Taliban use all kinds of torture, according to Ferishtah Abbasi of HRW, and they even pay their communities for these rallies.

Amnesty International scientist Zaman Soltani, who spoke to many protesters after they were released, said prison lacked basic features.

In the winter, there is no cooking method, prisoners are not given enough or plenty food, and health and safety issues are not taken into account at all, Soltani said.

The Taliban said that women could continue working and attending school after their invasion, with the disclaimer that this could only take place in accordance with Afghan society and Sharia legislation.

They continue to insist that women ‘ secondary schools are closed after the sixth year, but they have no strong commitment to reopening them.

In Afghanistan, Zakia took a second chance and opened a home-taught school to teach young women. This even failed.

They sense a group of young people regularly gathering in a place, she says, and their voices are filled with sadness. The Taliban “managed to accomplish their goals.” I am a prisoner in my own property”.

She continues to meet her fellow activists, but they do n’t plan to protest. They post sporadic remarks on social media under the surname.

Asked about her goals for Afghanistan, she breaks down in tears.

” I cannot do anything. We do n’t exist any more, women are removed from public life”, she says. ” All we wanted was our fundamental right, was it too much to request”?