Afghanistan | Shots in the air to disperse a demonstration of women in Kabul

(Kabul) Shots in the air and beatings with rifle butts: the Taliban violently dispersed a demonstration by women in Kabul on Saturday for the right to work and education, almost a year after the Islamists came to power in Afghanistan.

Around 40 women chanting ‘Bread, work and freedom’ marched past the Ministry of Education before a group of Taliban fighters dispersed them with gunfire in the air, some five minutes into the march .

The demonstrators carried a banner on which could read: “August 15 is a black day”, in reference to the date of the capture of Kabul in 2021 by the Taliban.

“Justice, justice. We are fed up with ignorance,” they chanted before being violently dispersed.

Taliban in military uniform and armed with assault rifles blocked a crossroads in front of the demonstrators and began shooting in the air for long seconds. One of them simulated a shot by aiming at the demonstrators, noted an AFP journalist.

Some protesters then took refuge in nearby shops where they were chased and beaten with rifle butts by the Taliban. They also confiscated cell phones from female protesters.

Journalists have also been beaten by the Taliban.

“Unfortunately, the Taliban who were part of the intelligence services came and fired in the air,” Zholia Parsi, one of the protest organizers, told AFP.

“From Our Homes”

“They dispersed the girls, tore up our banners and confiscated many girls’ mobile phones,” she added.

Another protester, Munisa Mubariz, said she intended to continue protesting for women’s rights.

“We will not let the Taliban silence our voices. We will protest from our homes,” she added.

Demonstrations by women to demand more rights have been increasingly rare in the capital, especially after the arrest at the beginning of the year of organizers of these gatherings, some of whom were kept in detention for several weeks.

Since their return to power last August, fundamentalist Islamists have gradually eroded the freedoms won by women over the past 20 years since the fall of their previous regime (1996-2001).

They have imposed a series of restrictions on civil society, many of which are aimed at subjugating women to their fundamentalist conception of Islam.

They have largely excluded girls from government jobs, restricted their right to travel, and banned girls from middle and high school.

Full veil

The latest restriction dates back to early May, when the government issued an edict, endorsed by Taliban and Afghan Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, making it compulsory for women to wear full-face veils in public.

The Taliban clarified that their preference was for the burqa, this integral veil most often blue and meshed at eye level, but that other types of veil revealing only the eyes would be tolerated.

They also felt that unless the women had a pressing reason to go out, it was “better for them to stay at home”.

All these measures “describe a model of total sexual segregation and aim to make women invisible in society”, declared in May in Kabul the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett.

In a statement, the human rights association Human Rights Watch on Thursday called on the Taliban to “reverse their horrible and misogynistic decision” to ban education for women.

“It would send the message that the Taliban are ready to reconsider their most egregious actions,” said Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at the NGO.

Over the past two decades, Afghan women had acquired new freedoms, returning to school or applying for jobs in all sectors of activity, even if the country remained socially conservative.