Taliban morality police have arrested dozens of young women in Kabul for alleged violations of the Islamic dress code, the Afghanistan International news outlet reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The arrests reportedly took place in the Qala-e-Fathullah and Kote Sangi neighborhoods of Kabul on Friday and Saturday. Women were taken from restaurants, streets and shopping centers and moved to an unknown destination, according to the report. Eyewitnesses told Afghanistan International that the morality police officers were all male and used violence against the detainees.
Women were taken away without any explanation, some of them beaten before they were forced into police cars, the report said.
In addition, about 100 women were arrested overnight into Sunday in central and western Kabul, including on marketplaces, in the streets and even hospitals, the news outlet said. No formal charges were brought against them, according to the report.
The authorities have yet to issue a statement explaining the arrests, Afghanistan International added.
The United Nations mission in Afghanistan has been deeply concerned about Taliban authorities arbitrarily arresting and detaining women and girls it accuses of violating dress codes regarding the Islamic headscarf, or hijab.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said it had “documented a series of hijab decree enforcement campaigns” taking place since January 1 in Kabul and Daykundi provinces.
The International Criminal Court (ICC), in July this year, has issued arrest warrants for two top Taliban leaders in Afghanistan on charges of abuses against women and girls.
ICC judges said there were “reasonable grounds” to suspect Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhunzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani of committing gender-based persecution.
While the Taliban have imposed certain rules and prohibitions on the population as a whole, they have specifically targeted girls and women by reason of their gender, depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms,” the court said in a statement.
The Taliban has “severely deprived” girls and women of the rights to education, privacy, family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion, ICC judges said.
(UNI)
