Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty December 5, 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai decried Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers in a speech on December 5 and called on the international community to make gender apartheid a crime against humanity. In a speech marking the 10th anniversary of the death of Nelson Mandela, Yousafzai told the audience in Johannesburg, South
By RFE/RL, EPA-EFE: A group of women in Herat have dedicated themselves to continuing a nearly long-lost, centuries-old tradition of woodcarving that is unique to Afghanistan. Click here to view photos (external link).
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi November 28, 2023 Afghan women’s rights activists are demanding the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecute Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers for systemic violations of human rights. In an open letter sent to the ICC on November 27, they accused the Taliban, who seized power in August 2021 as international troops withdrew from the country, of consistently
Khaama: Gulalai Farida, known as Ustad Mahwash, is one of Afghanistan’s most beloved musicians, earning titles such as “Ustad” (meaning master) and “Lady of Afghan Music” throughout her illustrious career. After five decades of artistic dedication, she bid farewell to the stage. Click here to read more (external link).
Ayaz Gul VOA News November 22, 2023 ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s Taliban government has told the United Nations that it will consider religious values and refuse outside interference in the country’s internal affairs when dealing with the world. The statement was submitted to the U.N. this week in response to a Security Council-commissioned assessment that included recommendations
Akmal Dawi VOA News November 21, 2023 Nineteen-year-old Dewa — not her real name — had an admission letter to an undergraduate college program in the United States and a scholarship covering all her expenses. But the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, rejected her student visa application, saying they believed she was intending to immigrate.
Khaama: Commanders of the Taliban in various provinces have continued to engage in marriages with underage girls. The report states, “In Nimroz province, a local Taliban official forcibly married a 13-year-old girl. Due to economic difficulties and security concerns, the victim’s family could not raise objections to this incident. In another case in Maidan Wardak
AP: Online abuse and hate speech targeting politically active women in Afghanistan has significantly increased since the Taliban took over the country in Aug. 2021, according to a report released Monday by a U.K.-based rights group. Afghan Witness, an open-source project run by the non-profit Center for Information Resilience, says it found that abusive posts
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi November 17, 2023 The acting head of the Afghan UN mission has requested the release of Afghan dissident Parisa Azada. Naseer Ahmed Faiq said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the detention of Azada by the Taliban is an act against Islamic and cultural values, as well as the fundamentals of human
By Khujasta Kabiri, Fayeza Ibrahimi Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty November 15, 2023 Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, thousands of Afghan families have fled to neighboring Pakistan. Some escaped their homeland so that their daughters could continue their education, following the Taliban’s ban on women attending university and teenage girls from going to school.