They raised the slogan “We will not let fear control us.”
Afghan women activists defy Taliban
Women activists are determined to extract their rights from the Taliban regime, no matter the cost.
AFP
Activists refuse to return to the era of the "chador" and restrict freedoms.
AFP
They write banners demanding their rights in a place far from the eyes of the "Taliban" AFP
Zakia is one of the activists who challenge the restriction of freedoms.
AFP
Fariba with her family members .. Insistence to live in dignity.
AFP
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Cautiously and at a fast pace, one group of women enters a small apartment in Kabul to secretly prepare for an upcoming activity, knowing that they are putting their lives in danger, but they think their resistance to the Taliban is worth the risk.
At first, their number did not exceed 15, but today there are several dozen who refuse to turn back the clock, among them are former workers in non-governmental organizations, students, teachers, and even housewives.
Activists plan anti-Taliban demonstrations at one time, or draw graffiti on the street calling for “freedom” that has diminished with the movement's return to power in mid-August at another time.
They know very well the dangers of their activities, and this became clear after the disappearance of two of their companions, two weeks ago, after what they described as night raids on their homes.
During the past months, only a few participated in public demonstrations for fear of threats or arrest.
"I said to myself, why not be one of them, instead of sitting at home and thinking about the things we lost?"
The Taliban ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, before it was overthrown by an American invasion.
During her rule, she suppressed freedoms and withheld modernity from the country.
Those who suffered the most at the time were the women who were prevented from attending schools and universities, from doing work, and from going out alone to the street, and were also forced to wear the burqa.
But in the last two decades, despite their constant confrontation with a conservative and patriarchal society to a large extent, Afghan women have enjoyed greater freedom, and they can work, study, and choose clothes, and some of them have reached positions in the state.
On August 15, the "Taliban" movement returned to power after the government forces were defeated on the ground in conjunction with the withdrawal of foreign forces from the country.
During the past months, the movement imposed restrictions on women's freedoms, including gender segregation in the workplace, which hindered the return of many to their work, prevented women from going out on long trips from Dom Muharram, and distributed banners encouraging the wearing of the burqa or niqab.
Memories of the first "Taliban" rule haunt Shala, 44, a former government employee and mother of four.
In the nineties, Shala and her family took refuge in Pakistan, after a Taliban fighter proposed to marry her, and she did not return to her country until after the fall of the movement.
"The thing I fear most today is to see the girls sitting at home again," she says.
Despite threats she received from the "Taliban," she said, she is trying today to participate in every demonstration, attending meetings and going out secretly to paint graffiti, such as "Long Live Equality", on the walls of Kabul.
"All I want is to be an example to young women that I will not give up the struggle," she adds.
Shala has received threats to harm her family, but says her husband supports her and even her children are chanting for education at home.
The second half is left
Agence France-Presse attended two meetings of the activists in January, the first in which about 40 women participated, and the second with only a few women who were preparing banners for a demonstration.
During the second meeting, while writing a banner calling for justice and respect for rights, the activist grabbed her cell phone in one hand and her pens in the other, and said, "These are only our weapons."
"It's dangerous, but there's no other way," another 24-year-old says defiantly. "We have to accept that the path we have taken is full of challenges."
Like many women, the young woman defied her conservative family and an uncle who threw books to prevent her from studying.
"I don't want to let fear control us, prevent me from speaking and keep me from telling the truth," she says.
Many left the country, especially the activists, after the Taliban came to power, fearing exposure to them.
Another young woman, who preferred not to be named, says, "Even if half of the country's population leaves, the other half will stay."
Over the past months, young women have developed secret frameworks for action, and formed small groups of only 10 activists on the WhatsApp application to coordinate and prepare for meetings and demonstrations.
When they agree on the time and place, they send only a short time before the details to another group of more women.
Entering the "planning" groups on WhatsApp is not an easy thing, as the activists fear that an "informant" will infiltrate their ranks.
In order to ascertain whether they can trust new women who are courting opposition activists, Huda Khamoush, 26, subjects them to tests, for example asking them to prepare banners and slogans within two hours.
One day, one of them was informed of an incorrect date for a demonstration, and she discovered that the Taliban had come to the place before the demonstration, and she cut off her relationship with her.
endurance only
The demonstrations have a specific phone number that is opened only to coordinate with the media and participants during the day of the demonstration, and is closed later to ensure that it is not tracked.
Huda, who changed her phone number several times as a result of threats she and her husband received, explains: “We usually take an extra clothing or veil with us.
After the demonstration, we change our clothes, so that we are not recognized.”
And she acknowledges that these measures “may not be enough, and we may be harmed, it is tiring, but we can only bear.”
The Taliban banned demonstrations against it, and its fighters did not hesitate to use force in the face of limited numbers of rebellious activists.
But Huda and other Afghan women remained determined to take to the streets, albeit in limited numbers, to demand “freedom, justice, education and work.”
A woman told AFP that during one of the demonstrations, she slapped a fighter in the face, and another led the cheers, unconcerned, by a masked gunman who pricked her from behind, and a third did not hesitate to hit a fighter who raised his weapon in her face.
Before the demonstrations, the women do not gather at once, but come in small groups of two or three, walk around a little, stand in front of the shops, and at the appointed hour they meet together and begin their walk.
A few minutes later, the Taliban fighters begin to gather around them, trying to block their path, shouting at them and even pointing their weapons at them.
During the last demonstration on January 16, Taliban fighters used pepper spray to disperse about 20 female activists who sprayed white veils with red, as an expression of their refusal to wear it.
A few days later, Taliban activists were accused of arresting the two protesters, Tamana Zaryabi Pariani and Parwana Ibrahim, in a series of night-time raids.
Shortly before her disappearance, a video of Tamana went viral on social media, in which she appears in a state of tension, chanting, "Please help, (the Taliban) came (..) my sisters are home."
Tamana goes to talk to the person behind the door, saying: “If you want to talk, we can talk tomorrow.
I can't see you at night with girls, I don't want, I don't want... Please help.”
The whereabouts of the two young women are not yet known.
On February 4, the United Nations in Afghanistan expressed concern about the disappearance of two other activists.
She asked the Taliban to reveal the whereabouts of the women.
Fear prompted others interviewed by "AFP" before the raid, to hide and change their phone numbers and places of residence.
The Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, denied arresting or detaining women activists, but warned that the authorities "have the right to arrest and detain opponents and those who break the law."
New generation
Day by day, women are improving their methods.
At first, the protest ended as soon as one of them was assaulted.
Today, Huda says: "We entrust two of us to take care of the victim, while the others complete the protest."
Knowing that the Taliban will not allow journalists to cover their movement, the women use good quality phones to take photos and videos and later post them on social media.
Heather Barr of Human Rights Watch believes that "many of the activists and experts who worked in Afghanistan for several years, left the country after August 15, but continue their work from exile."
Regarding the women who go out to demonstrate in Afghanistan, she says: “I think they are still trying to find the way (...) They go out to the street despite knowing that they will be harmed, they show their faces on TV, while the (Taliban) movement around them does not tolerate the opposition, but pursues the demonstrators and the organizers. threatening and intimidating them.”
"It's a generation of young women, there is no one to learn from, they have to innovate on their own," she says.
alternative solutions
And when it is not possible to demonstrate, women look for alternative solutions: a gathering to light candles, raise signs in a home and take and post pictures.
Waheeda Amiri, 33, who belongs to a small women's group, finds that women need more patience in the face of the Taliban.
"We demonstrated at first, but they used violence against us, and when we felt that we could not raise our voice in the street, we had to change our way of protesting," she says.
From time to time, she and a small group of her female friends locate a house where they take pictures and raise slogans demanding the right to education and work.
"Our demonstrations are now secret," she says. "We share them on social media, write articles, and attend dialogue sessions on the Club House app or Twitter."
But Amiri does not hide her fear and adds: "My heart and body tremble when I go out to the street."
enchantment
Huda dreamed of working in the political affairs in Afghanistan, but all that is available to her today is to organize demonstrations in secret, making sure that she and her comrades do not fall into the hands of the "Taliban".
"In the past, if someone asked me what you want to be in the future, I would answer that I want to be the president of the country," she says.
"If we do not stand today in defense of our future, the history of Afghanistan will repeat itself... If we do not demand our rights, we will end up at home between four walls, and this cannot be tolerated," she added.
"Afghanistan's history has changed today, and we cannot go back and lose our achievements," she added.
For many, the question remains whether these moves will lead to an outcome.
"I think what's happening is very telling, and what women do has a really big impact, because their photos capture the world's attention more than anything else in Afghanistan," Barr says. "There is something magical about a group of women walking and chanting against the Taliban."
Ameri believes that demonstrating against the burqa, which is respected by a large part of society, is not a priority now, "but there are other issues that we have to solve before that, we are forbidden from schools, and universities are closed, they removed us from society and politics."
She adds very realistically: "We may not succeed... All we want is to keep the voice of justice loud, and instead of only five women, we want thousands to join us."
• During the past months, young women developed secret frameworks for action, and formed small groups, each containing only 10 activists, on the "WhatsApp" application to coordinate and prepare for meetings and demonstrations.
• Knowing that the Taliban will not allow journalists to cover their movement, the women use good quality phones to take photos and videos and later post them on social media.
The release of a feminist activist arrested by the Taliban
An Afghan activist who was arrested in January with others, after participating in a demonstration against the "Taliban" regime in Afghanistan, was released Friday, two of her relatives confirmed to AFP.
Parwana Ibrahim Khel was arrested on January 19 in Kabul, as well as activist Tamana Zarabi Pariani, days after they participated in a rally to defend women's right to education and work.
The Taliban has always denied any responsibility for these disappearances, and confirmed that it had opened an investigation.
Ibrahim Khel was released on Friday, after the Taliban had held her for more than three weeks, according to what one of her relatives confirmed.
"We confirm that Barwana has been released," he told AFP, on condition of anonymity. "She was arrested by (the Taliban)."
Hoda Khamoush, one of the faces of the feminist protests that took place in Afghanistan in recent months, confirmed the release of Barwana.
"I called her close family members, and Prawana was released, and she is fine," she told AFP.
During the arrest of Parwana Ibrahim Khel and Tamana Zarabi Paryani, four of the two young women's relatives also disappeared.
The fate of Baryani and these four remained unknown until Friday evening.
Last week, the Taliban arrested two other activists, Zahra Mohammadi and Mursal Ayyar, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Manwa), and their fate is still unknown.
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