Afghanistan: UN asks Taliban to free two women rights defenders

ISLAMABAD: U.N. experts on Tuesday demanded the Taliban immediately release two women rights defenders who have been in detention for more than a month with no reason given for their arrest.

The Taliban have barred women from most areas of public life and work and stopped girls from going to school beyond the sixth grade as part of harsh measures they imposed after taking power in 2021, as U.S. and NATO forces were pulling out of Afghanistan following two decades of war.

U.N. experts, including special rapporteur on Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, described release of Neda Parwan and Zholia Parsi and their family members as an urgent matter. They have not been granted legal representation, charged with a crime or brought to court.

“We are increasingly concerned about their physical and mental wellbeing,” the experts said in a statement. They urged Taliban authorities to demonstrate respect for rights and freedoms and said there was no justification for the detention.