Afghanistan: Detention of activist and PEN member highlights ongoing crackdown on women and girls
Courtesy of PEN Afghanistan
Update - 18 December 2023:
PEN International has received confirmation that Zholia Parsi has been released from detention. While we welcome this development, she should never have been detained. PEN International continues to urge the Taliban to reverse its restrictive policies that undermine women and girls’ access to education and their right to freedom of expression.
03 October 2023: PEN International is deeply concerned by reports that leading women’s rights activist and PEN member, Zholia Parsi, was detained at her home by the Taliban in Kabul last week. We call for her immediate and unconditional release, and for the Taliban to immediately end their ongoing crackdown on civil society and freedom of expression.
On 27 September 2023, Zholia Parsi was reportedly detained and taken from her home in Kabul by members of the Taliban, who also took her mobile phones, documents, and other personal possessions, according to media reports.
‘The arbitrary arrest of PEN member and activist, Zholia Parsi, is just the latest example of the shrinking space for civil society under Taliban rule. The targeting of those who seek to promote the right to education is a damning illustration of the Taliban’s contempt towards the rights of women and girls. We call for Parsi’s immediate release, along with all those detained for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression’, says Romana Cacchioli, Executive Director of PEN International.
Zholia Parsi is a leading activist for the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan and founder of the Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women, an organisation that coordinated demonstrations against the Taliban’s overwhelming restrictions on women and girls’ education and participation in public life. Two weeks earlier, another member of Parsi’s organisation, Neda Parwani, was detained along with her family members.
Parsi’s arbitrary detention is the latest example of an alarming escalation in the use of arbitrary detention to silence those who publicly criticise or challenge the Taliban and its rule over Afghanistan. Another prominent advocate for girls’ education, Matiullah Wesa, remains detained more than six months since he was initially arrested on 27 March 2023.
In response to reports of Parsi’s detention, both UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett and US Permanent Representative to the UN Human Rights Council, Michèle Taylor, called for the immediate release of the women’s rights activists. A spokesperson for the European Union’s External Action Service called for the immediate release of all three activists.
Writers and journalists have also been targeted as part of the Taliban’s ongoing crackdown on civil society. French-Afghan journalist, Mortaza Behboudi, has been arbitrarily detained for almost nine months since he was initially detained on 7 January.
PEN International calls for Zholia Parsi’s immediate and unconditional release, along with all those detained for their peaceful expression. We urge the Taliban to reverse their restrictive policies, including all measures that undermine the right to freedom of expression in the country.
For further information please contact Ross Holder, Head of Asia/Pacific Region at PEN International: mailto:[email protected]