Afghan feminist activists explained to AFP on Thursday January 20 that they had to hide to preserve their safety and denounced the growing repression of the Taliban, a few days after the dispersal of one of their demonstrations with tear gas canisters.
Read alsoAfghanistan: demonstration of women against the Taliban “criminal machine”
At least one participant in Sunday's protest was arrested Wednesday night, according to four activists, who claim their movement is being targeted by a series of police raids and fear for their own safety.
Another protester posted a video of herself in a panic on social media on Wednesday night, claiming Taliban fighters were knocking on her door.
The two activists were nowhere to be found on Thursday.
Contacted by AFP, a spokesman for the Taliban government made no comment.
Women progressively excluded from public life
If the Taliban claim to have modernized since their previous reign between 1996 and 2001, they have gradually excluded women from public life since their return to power in August, arousing the concern of the international community. Women thus remain largely excluded from public employment, are not allowed to travel long distances without being accompanied by a male relative, and secondary schools for girls remain mostly closed. The video posted on social networks “
caused a lot of panic
,” said an activist, who wishes to remain anonymous.
Another activist told AFP that the Taliban came to her home on Wednesday but could not find her because she was outside with a relative.
“
We cannot stay at home, even at night
,” denounced another protester, on condition of anonymity.
These activists, who demonstrate regularly in Kabul and are very active on social networks, were already changing phone numbers regularly.
Since the demonstration on Sunday, some have forced themselves to change their residence daily.
That day, Taliban fighters sprayed around twenty demonstrators with tear gas and some claim to have been followed.
Read alsoAfghanistan: the Taliban prohibit women from traveling unaccompanied
After this rally, Human Rights Watch denounced the “
violent repression
” of the opposition.
This “
marks an alarming and illegal intensification of efforts to prevent peaceful protests and freedom of expression in Afghanistan
,” the American NGO said on Tuesday.
Other signals suggest a hardening of the current regime: several Afghan journalists have been arrested in recent months and a university professor openly critical of the government was imprisoned for four days in early January.
He was released after a social media campaign calling for his release.