ISLAMABAD: The United Nations said on Tuesday that Afghan women employed by the UN had been detained, harassed and banned from venturing out since restrictions imposed by the Taliban.
According to Arab News, the Afghan Taliban told the United Nations earlier that Afghan women employed with the United Nations mission could no longer report for work.
The UN said in the report, “This is the most current in a series of discriminatory – and unlawful measures implemented by the de facto authorities to severely restrict girls and women participation in most places of public and daily life in Afghanistan.”
The report said the Taliban continued to crack down on dissenting voices, particularly those who speak out on problems related to the rights of women and girls.
The report cited the March arrest of four women, released the following day, during a protest in Kabul demanding access to education and work and campaigning for reopening girls’ schools.
The report said several other civil society activists have reportedly been released without being charged following extended periods of arbitrary detention by the Taliban intelligence service.
The report said that the measures would have disastrous effects on Afghanistan’s prospects for prosperity, peace and stability.
The agency’s human rights chief Fiona Frazer said, “the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) is concerned about increasing restrictions on civic space across Afghanistan.”
The Taliban government previously restricted girls from going to primary school beyond the sixth grade and restricted women from most public life and work.
