By: Mohammad Anwar Rahimi
Translated by: Mohammad Sakhi Rezaie
Taliban’s officials of Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice at the beginning of 2024 started arresting, kidnapping and torturing a number of girls from Dssht e Barchi, West of Kabul.
Local sourcrces reported to the Silk Way Weekly that on June 13, 2023 the Taliban fighters arrested women and girls in Pule Sorkh, Kota e Sangi, Qala e Naw and Shahrak e Ettifaq of Dashte Barchi charging them with not observing Taliban’s dress code. Local sources reported to SWW that Taliban fighters, After humiliation, insults and physical violence, forced women and girls into Ranger military vehicles while they were on streets, or were in educational centers, stores, and markets and took them to unidentified locations.
Saleh (fake name) , a Barchi resident told to SWW that I saw one day the Taliban fighters forcing two girls to get into their vehicle and they told the thirld girl who resisted against Taliban, “Shamels! Get in the car.” He further added that they finally hit her with the barrle of the gun to get into the car. First I did not realize Taliban were arresting them for not observing the drees code; because they were wearing long skirts; two of them were wearing large black veils, and the other one was wearing a green veil. Taliban kept shouting on them, “Whore, get in the car!”
A resident of Pul e Khoshk of Dashte Barchi who did not want to be mentioned his name in the report due to security risks, told to SWW that “I was at Barchi gas station when a Taliban Ranger arrived’. One of the Taliban get off the Ranger and told four girls stainding beside the street; get into the car quickly! When the girls resisted, four more Taliban fighters got off the car and forced the grils into the car and one of them forced the girls to get into the car at gunpoint. He told them, “Whore, get into the car!”. It seemed the girls had just returned from an educational center and they were covered, they were wearing overcoatas in addition to wearing veils and coats.
A cartsman of Barchi said, “Taliban also arrested under age girls. One day, I assume it was on June 5th, 2023, when some Taliban fighters were forcing a teenager gril into a vehicle accusing her of not observing the dress code.” At this moment, an elderly man told them the girld had hejab and “why do you intimdate her?” Then many people gathered in the area and objected the Taliban measures; but the four members of the Taliban in the area beaten up the protestors. Soon another Taloban’s ranger arrived and tens of Taliban fighters scattered the people with whips, butt stocks and batons and took the girl to an identified place.
Local sources in west Kabul confirmed that detention of women and girls by Taliban continued in coming days and several vehicles were allocated for carrying the assult on women and girls in west of Kabul and Taliban carried out the crack down on women and girls with a brutal manner along with insulting, linguistic humiliation and physical violence. “We did it to prevent vice and inappropriate hejba”, Abdul Ghafar Faruq the spokesperson for Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of said.
A Selective And Ethnic Based Appraoch to Humiliate Hazaras
Wide spread arrests of Hazara women and girls by Taliban intrigued the idea Taliban pursued humiliation of Hazaras under the pretext of fighting with inappropriate hejab. Mohammad Mohaqeq the leader of The Islamic Unity Party of the people of Afghanistan reacting on Hazaras women and girls detention posted on his Facebook account stating “Kidnapping grils in Kabul and arresting them for inapporopraiate hejaib is selective and is a pretext to humiliate and insult a specific religious and ethnic group in Afghanistan.”
Local sources in West Kabul confirming the selecrive nature of arresting Hazara women and grils told to SWW that on January 1, 2024 and the coming days Taliban officials from Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Taliban arrested a number of Hazara women and girls were arrested after being beaten, racial and religious insult and then were humiliated and tortured in detnetionc centers too.
Local sources reported to SWW that Taliban fighters arrested Hazara women and girls although they observed hejab and Talliban insulted them on the streets, allies and stores and educational centeres while arresting them, they were accused of lack of appropriate hejab, not wearing veil and black mask.
These sources also confirmed that in addition to arresting women and girls, Taliban had beaten them and if any men asked Taliban that they shall not arrest Hazaras women and girls proior to informing their familes, Taliban would have insulted them religiously and honorably.”
Ahmad-alias – said Taliban beatn women and girls before arresting them and then forced them into a car and took them to an idedntified location. “In nanwaei (bakery) station when Taliban wanted to arrested a number of women and girls, some local men mediated and told Taliban these women and girls have observed dress code and why do you arrest them?”, one of the Taliban fighters told them, “You are dishonored people; your women and grils are whores. If you are not unbelievers, and had honor, you shoud have stopeed your whores.”
One of the witnesses who did not want his name to be mentioned said that Taliban forced women and girls observing hejab and took them and after they psychologically and sexsually were tortured, then Taliban called their male family members and told them, “Come and take your whores!”. He added that “I was near police district 13 and saw Taliban were arresting women and girls with force. Not for observing heiab; Taliban deliberately arrest Hazara women and girls to insult and humiliate Hazaras.”
Local sources told to us a number of women and girls were arrested on mother’s day in Kabul while they were buying gifts for their mothers. An eyewitness told to SWW that “Taliban aimed at humiliating and insulting Hazaras.” Adding that “I saw myself Taliban arrested women and girls based on false charges as lack of chaperon, lack of wearing a mask, insulting Taliban leaders and other basless chargers in order to demoral our people.”
A male student who did not want his name to be mentioned stated that “I had gone out for buying goods from Barchi market. When I came out of the market, I saw the Taliban forcing the girls to get into the car.” He stated. He added that “all the girls arrested by Taliban were wearing hejab, they had veil and apporpiate black clothes. Taliban beaten up women and girls and forced them to get into the car with guns and whips. If someone opposed the Taliban decision, Taliban insulted religiously and ethnically them and scattered them with guns and whips.”
The videos sent by Barchi residents to the Silk Way Weekly, show all arrested women and girls are wearing appropriate clothes, black veils and long dresses. However, Taliban had told to media these women were not wearing an appropriate hejab.
The UN Expert Group which Richard Bennet is also a member of the group, in a report published on Febuary 2, 2024, stated that : “Arresting women and girls due to bad hejab started from west of Kabul which most of its residents are Hazaras and then it was extended to other parts of Kabul and provinces.”
According to the UN Expert group’s report, most of these women observed complete hejab -but were charched with either ovserving no hejab or inappropriate heibab, and arrested from public spaces incliding educational centers, markets, streets and even from alleys. The UN Experts concluded Taliban’s laeaders to be accountable on these measures.
Zabihullah Mujahid reaxting to the UN report said critizing implementation of religious ruling is not tolerable and is considered as insulting the people. In another interview, Mujahaid said the atctions of officials of the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice was according to the Islamic sharia saying that “Women’s hejab, accompany of chaperon, work place conditions according to sharia and education of women and implementing sharia rulings by the courts, prevention of religious and thought in the society are parts of the duties of an accountable Islamic government.”
Aftere retaking the power in Afghanistan, Taliban resumed restrictions on women across the country and the group has repeatedly arrested women and girls from different provinces. However, Taliban have unprecedenly arrested Hazara women from the public spaces and tortured them in the new round of their crackdown on women.
Mohammad Faqir Mohammadi Deputy Minister for the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in an interview with Tolo news on January 24, 2023 said “Alhamddu lellah hejab is neither the rule of the Islamic Emirate nor the rule of the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. It is a rule set by Allah. People of Afghanistan want hejab to be observed in a complete manner. In terms of hejab, no body has complained to say we don’t want it.”
َAbduction and arresting women with the purpose of extortion
Findings of the Silk Way Weely show that Taliban have sentenced and tortured thousands of young women and girls from west of Kabul. A number of these women and girls have been released after psychological tortures and sexual harrasemet with the mediation of clerics and influential people paying money to Taliban, providing written commitment, providing property documents, paying about 150-250 thousand afs, and avoid giving an interview with media on tortures they have experienced in the Taliban detention centers and prisons.
Local sources told to SWW that Taliban after totruing women and girls in security districts checked their Facebook accounts, WhatsApp, Imo and other social media accounts of them if they had posted against Taliban or had shared they were deataiedn by Taliban they would have been moved into Pule Charkhi prison and if they had not done so, Taliban would have contacted their families and told them firstly; they shall provide a written commitment letter to the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice; Secondly; they shall tell nothing to media and and wear veil and Thirdly; they shall pay a specific amount of money as punishment to the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. The source added that measures of the families of those women and grils moved to Pule Charkhi, have been useless and there is no information aout the loved ones yet.
Karima-allias, whose sister was arrested and tortured by Taliban, said “My sister was detained alongside of her coworker from office on June 8, and they were detained on the way home. When my father and brother suspected that Taliban may have detained my sister, they went to police district of Taliban and Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice told them there were no people with such identifications at their detention centers.” Then her father went to the police district along with some local influencials and religious scholars and chief of police district says his daughter is there; but she will not be released for two days. After two days, they received a call from the police district and they were told to pay 160,000 afs in addition to providing a written commitment to the police district and two local influencial peole also shall guarantee that she will observe Taloban’s drees code. “When my sister came home she was in a bad psychological situation and the signs of torture were seen on all parts of her body. She did not talk for tow days. Taliban had tortured her just for wearing white shoes.” Karima added Taliban in addition to physically and mentally torturing my sister had insulted her religiously and ethnically. “When we were tortured and Taliban whipped and slashed us, they also religiously and racially insulted us. They said Hazaras were nonbelievers and it is legitimate to kill them. You should become Muslims. Taliban told us do prayers to see how you perform prayers.” She said. Karima added after passing several days from releasing my sister, she does not feel psychologically and mentally well.
Local sources say arresting women may have decreased in October and Novemebr but not stopped. They also added that in addition to arresting women and girls, Taliban check smart phones of young men in the west of Kabul and if there is contact numbers of women saved on their mobiles, or sent a message to their friends, posted on Facebook, there are women photos on their phones or there are music and music videos, then they will be detained by Taliban.
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