Nov. 11 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Taliban have arrested prominent activist Farhat Popalzai, who took part in recent demonstrations against the authorities set up after the fundamentalists returned to power, less than a week after a wave of arrests among activists in Afghanistan.
According to information collected by the Afghan news agency Jaama Press, Popalzai, 23, has been detained by the Afghan intelligence services, which have not yet commented on the situation.
Popalzai is one of the founders of the Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women and was in charge of the organization’s social networks, which has indicated that the woman disappeared on Tuesday in Kabul, without her whereabouts being known at the moment.
The non-governmental organization Afghan Peace Watch has highlighted on its account on the social network Twitter that the woman “was arrested by the Taliban in Kabul” and has stated that “she has been in custody for four days”:
The founder of Afghan Peace Watch, Habib Jan, has indicated through this same channel that the activist was “kidnapped by the Taliban Intelligence agency” and recalled that “she participated in recent women’s protests against the regime”.
Popalzai’s arrest took place just a few days after the arrest of activists and journalists during a press conference called by an organization that brings together women from civil society, an incident that the UN Human Rights office described as ” deeply troubling.”
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that “all Afghans have the right to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression and opinion, without fear of arrest or intimidation”, for which he asked the “authorities ‘ de facto'” that do not violate international obligations.
The Taliban have installed a government marked by a lack of women and representatives of other political groups, while implementing a series of measures that severely limit the rights of women and girls, including the closure of secondary schools for more than one year.
