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Photo: AFP Human Rights Watch has announced in a report that the Taliban’s internet shutdown has dealt a heavy blow to the rights and livelihoods of millions of Afghan citizens and deprived them of education, information, and vital services. This blackout began in mid-September and, from Monday evening (September 29), spread across the entire country. In the report published today, Wednesday (October 1), Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at the organization, said: “The Taliban’s actions in cutting the internet have made the livelihoods of millions of Afghans vulnerable and deprived them of their basic rights to education, health care, and access to information. The Taliban must abandon their baseless justifications and put an end to these shutdowns.” According to Human Rights Watch, the Taliban have justified this action in the name of “preventing immoral behavior,” but in practice its consequences have been catastrophic, disrupting banking, commerce, media, health services, and even Kabul flights. Humanitarian aid groups have also stressed that this blackout has prevented coordination and the distribution of vital assistance. Indrika Ratwatte, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Afghanistan, said: “This is another crisis on top of existing ones that severely affects people’s lives.” The internet shutdown has most of all isolated women and girls. Many of them, who after the Taliban’s bans could only continue learning through online education, have now lost even this last window of hope. A university professor told Human Rights Watch that out of 28 students in an online class, only 9 were able to connect. Journalists have also reported that they are unable to make local and international calls, and this blackout has disrupted reporting and documenting human rights violations. Domestic media remained silent for hours, while exiled media faced serious problems in verifying reports from inside the country. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had previously emphasized that access to the internet is an integral part of freedom of expression, political participation, education, and vital services, and its shutdown can exacerbate social and gender inequalities. Abbasi warned: “Afghans were already isolated from the world, but now they are completely cut off. The longer this blackout continues, the more devastating its consequences will be for the people and the future of the country.”

Source: Free Speech Centre By completely cutting internet services in Afghanistan, the Taliban have plunged the country into one of the most unprecedented information blackouts. This action, which includes fiber optic and mobile internet, began on Monday at 5 p.m. local time and has deprived millions of Afghan citizens of access to the outside world. The Free Speech Centre, based in Toronto, in reaction to this Taliban action, described it as “one of the most extreme and repressive measures” since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 and strongly condemned it. The center announced that since the internet shutdown, it has lost contact with journalists in 20 provinces of Afghanistan. Media in Silence, People in Isolation The internet shutdown has dealt a heavy blow to domestic and exiled media. Many domestic outlets remain silent. Outside Afghanistan, exiled media, which play a vital role in reporting, are now facing serious problems in accessing sources inside the country and verifying the accuracy of reports. This blackout has not only affected the media; aid organizations and NGOs, including teams active in response to recent earthquakes, cannot contact frontline workers. Banks, government offices, airports, and many of the country’s vital services have been paralyzed. Women and Girls; Victims Once Again Women and girls who were already deprived of in-person education in schools and universities have now lost their last opportunity to access online learning with this internet blackout. This Taliban action has closed their final window of participation in public life and tightened the circle of restrictions even further. An Attack on Fundamental Freedoms The Free Speech Centre emphasized that this Taliban action is not merely a restriction on internet access but “a direct attack on freedom of expression, media freedom, and the right to access information,” rights guaranteed under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. By shutting down the internet, the Taliban have effectively cut Afghanistan’s last bridge of communication with the world and turned the country into a larger prison than ever before. Call for Global Action The center has called on the international community and organizations supporting media freedom to increase pressure on the Taliban to end this blackout, protect Afghan citizens’ fundamental right to access information and freedom of expression, and provide alternative communication pathways for journalists and citizens of Afghanistan. Afghanistan in Darkness The Taliban’s internet shutdown has not only plunged the people into darkness but has once again exposed the true face of this group, a group that fears awareness, freedom, and truth. Afghanistan now remains in absolute silence, but the voice of freedom and the demand for rights of its people will, sooner or later, rise out of this darkness.

image source: rfi.fr The nationwide internet shutdown in Afghanistan, which began on Monday (September 29), has not only plunged people’s lives into darkness but also silenced the Taliban’s propaganda loudspeakers. The group that cut the cables to take away the people’s voice now finds itself stuck in the same darkness. Since this digital blackout, the accounts of Taliban spokesmen on X, Telegram, and WhatsApp have been inactive. The last post of Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, dates back to 29 September and has not been updated since. The accounts of ministries and even national radio and television remain in the same condition. The Taliban’s WhatsApp channels used for distributing official messages have also been inactive since 5 p.m. on Monday. In this way, the Taliban have not only silenced the people but have also brought their own propaganda machine into silence. This action by the Taliban has been outwardly justified in the name of “preventing moral corruption,” but in practice it has deprived millions of citizens of access to information, education, and communication with the world. Afghan girls and women, whose last window for education was online learning, have now lost even that limited opportunity. The internet cutoff began on the order of the Taliban leader in Balkh and has now spread across the country. Taliban officials have so far given no official explanation. This situation is pushing Afghanistan into dangerous isolation, where people cannot make their voices heard by the world. Civil activists say the international community must not allow Afghanistan to sink into absolute silence.

EPA Images pic For the second consecutive day, Afghanistan remains in a complete internet blackout. Since Monday evening (September 29), the Taliban, without prior warning, have cut all fiber optic internet services and mobile networks across the country, an action that experts say has created an unprecedented “digital blackout.” For more than twenty hours, the internet has remained cut off, leaving millions of Afghan citizens disconnected from the outside world. This outage has not only stopped family communications and media activities but has also dealt a severe blow to education, commerce, banking, and health services. According to “NetBlocks,” the level of internet connectivity in Afghanistan has dropped to below 14 percent. The organization described the Taliban’s action as deliberate and warned that the country is moving toward an “absolute digital blackout.” Reports have also emerged of widespread disruption in mobile phones, the cutting of international calls, and the suspension of flights from Kabul airport. Social media users have said that due to flight suspensions, passengers have been stranded at Dubai airport and families remain uninformed about one another. Sabena Chaudhry, communications manager at Women for Afghan Women (WAW), told CNN: “This blackout has silenced millions of Afghans and cut their vital lifeline of communication with the outside world.” Speculations abound regarding the reasons for this Taliban action. The Washington Post, quoting a foreign diplomat in Kabul, reported that the Taliban decided to cut the internet without prior notice and stated that this situation would continue until “further notice.” Sarah Adams, a former officer of the CIA, in reaction to this action, said the Taliban are trying to hide the movement of foreign fighters from Bagram to terrorist camps. She wrote on the social network X that this action by the Taliban was taken during negotiations with the United States to gain Washington’s approval. She also called for an immediate halt to US financial aid to the Taliban. The exiled Nai organization also called this nationwide cutoff a “betrayal against more than 40 million citizens” and stressed that this action has turned Afghanistan into “a vast prison in the age of communication.” The organization warned that with this, the Taliban want to hide their news and crimes from the eyes of the international community. Human rights activists, civil organizations, and internet watchdogs have described this digital blackout as a gross violation of human rights and a direct attack on freedom of expression, education, and access to information. Analysts warn that with this action, the Taliban want to isolate Afghanistan even further and separate it from the international community. While the world strives for transparency, open communications, and equal access to information, the Taliban have chosen the opposite path, one that not only plunges the future of Afghan girls and boys into darkness but also turns the country into a silenced and repressed island.

Photo: WomenForAfg/X The two-day meeting of Afghan civil activists and political representatives under the name “Unity and Trust” was held today, Monday (September 29), in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. The purpose of this meeting has been stated as strengthening regional cooperation and outlining a vision for the political future of Afghanistan. In this meeting, organized by “Women for Afghanistan” and the “South Asia Strategic Stability Institute,” a number of Afghan political figures and women’s rights defenders are holding discussions with their Pakistani counterparts. Fawzia Koofi, former member of parliament, in her speech emphasized that only an inclusive government based on the will of the people can guarantee sustainable peace. She added that the situation of women in Afghanistan is “unbearable.” Alongside Koofi, individuals such as Mustafa Mastoor, former Minister of Economy, Nasir Ahmad Andisha, Afghanistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Ahmadullah Alizai, former Governor of Kabul, and Tahir Zohair, former Governor of Bamyan, are also present in this meeting. It is worth noting that this meeting had been postponed several times due to the opposition of the Taliban.

Image source: khaama press In the latest controversial decree, the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education has imposed more than fifty restrictive orders on professors and students of Afghanistan’s universities, directives that range from banning the use of smartphones to the obligation of wearing turbans. Informed sources warn that these decisions not only further suffocate the country’s academic environment but also practically turn universities into arenas for enforcing the Taliban’s Department for the Promotion of Virtue policies. A copy of the official letters from Nida Mohammad Nadim, the Taliban’s Minister of Higher Education, obtained by the media, shows that all universities in the country are required to “purify their environments from images of living beings and everything deemed un-Islamic.” These letters also state that all university employees must wear turbans and administrators are obliged to encourage staff to comply with this order. Ban on Smartphones One of the most controversial aspects of these decrees is the prohibition on carrying and using smartphones in universities. According to the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education, no professor or student has the right to use a smartphone inside the university environment. This restriction has even been extended to lower-level ministry employees, who are required not to bring their phones to their workplaces. Infiltration of the Department for the Promotion of Virtue into Academic Environments In Article Four of these decrees, it is explicitly stated that the Taliban’s Department for the Promotion of Virtue will oversee all university affairs, an institution internationally recognized as one of the main instruments of human rights violations and restrictions on individual freedoms. Continuous Restrictions on Education In the past four years, Afghanistan’s educational system has been consistently under Taliban pressure: Complete ban on the education of girls and women Removal of certain scientific subjects Prohibition of teaching specific books Rewriting of curricula based on a rigid ideological interpretation Experts believe that this series of decrees is the final nails in the coffin of the country’s scientific and academic independence, and professors and students are practically deprived of the most basic educational rights and individual freedoms. A source in the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education, on the condition of anonymity, said: “These decrees tie the hands and feet of professors and students more than ever before and turn universities into a silent prison.” Consequences Analysts say that with these decrees, the Taliban have turned universities from centers of science and thought into testing grounds for their ideology, a decision that not only endangers the academic future of millions of young people but also drives Afghan society further toward darkness, isolation, and backwardness.

Photo: WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via ifj While the world commemorates September 28 as “International Day for Universal Access to Information,” in Afghanistan not only is there no news of access to information, but the voice of the media has been silenced under the boots of Taliban censorship and pressure. Journalists, analysts, and media activists in the country, in conversation with Zan News, speak of a “deadly” state of freedom of expression. According to them, what is happening in Afghanistan today is not only a clear violation of journalists’ rights but also the complete collapse of independent news institutions. Hisham, a local journalist in Balkh province, told Zan News: “Access to information is now a dream. When we ask questions, not only do they not answer, but we are threatened. The Taliban practically consider the journalist their enemy.” He spoke of multiple instances in which the Taliban not only refused to provide information but also arrested or threatened journalists for the “crime of asking questions.” Habiba Shams, a journalist based in Kabul, with a choked and hopeless voice, said: “Today media are either shut down, have chosen silence, or have turned into propaganda tribunes for the Taliban. We have only one request from the Taliban: let the truth be spoken.” She added that even unofficial sources are afraid to speak with the media. The fear of pursuit, arrest, and even torture has forced everyone into silence. Niaz Mohammad Farid, a media expert, described this situation as the “absolute destruction of the information system” in the country. He said: “Today there is either no media, or if there is, it has merely become a propaganda tool for the Taliban. Journalists have either fled, gone silent, or are in prison.” He warned that if the international community remains indifferent to this trend, Afghanistan will soon turn into one of the largest black holes of information in the world. While Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees the right to seek, receive, and impart information for all, in today’s Afghanistan this article is nothing more than a torn page from history. The Taliban not only do not tolerate transparency, but they consider truth their enemy. On the International Day for Universal Access to Information, this bitter question turns more strongly than ever in the minds of Afghan journalists: “When they censor us, threaten us, kill us, and the world only watches, is freedom of expression truly universal or just a privilege for Western countries?” Today is the day that the silenced voices of Afghan journalists must be heard. If the world ignores this silence, not only will the media be destroyed, but truth itself will be consigned to oblivion.

googleimage Local sources in Khost say that a young girl named Aqila was killed in this province by her two brothers. The incident took place on Saturday (September 27) in the center of Khost province. According to sources, Aqila’s brothers, who were arrested by the Taliban last year on charges of kidnapping, were released from prison only three days ago, and after their release committed this murder. Sources add that these two brothers, along with their mother, had engaged Aqila three times in the past six months in order to obtain money from her dowry. Reports indicate that the Taliban were aware of Aqila’s case but took no action to prevent her killing. Some sources even say the Taliban assisted her brothers in the murder. According to sources, the perpetrators are currently moving freely and there has been no prosecution by the Taliban against them.

Social Media In the latest wave of repression of individual freedoms, the Taliban, by arresting female bloggers, have opened a new chapter of pressure, fear, and widespread censorship against women in Afghanistan. The arrest of Alia Malorin, one of the active figures on social networks, seems to be only the beginning of an online suffocation project aimed at silencing the voices of women in virtual space. Local sources in Herat have confirmed that after Alia’s arrest, dozens of female bloggers, out of fear of a similar fate, have not only stopped their digital activities but have also deleted their entire content archives. The public sphere, especially among young girls, is now filled with fear and anxiety. Khatira Jamshidi, one of the young bloggers, told Zan News that life for women active in virtual space has now become “extremely difficult and suffocating.” She added that even writing a simple sentence or publishing an ordinary photo could lead to arrest. Farida Khalid, another female blogger, stated that the Taliban will never stop their fight against women’s freedom. She warned that these actions are part of the Taliban’s systematic policy to eliminate women from the social, cultural, and political spheres of the country. Meanwhile, Marzia Ramesh considers the current situation nothing less than “hell” for women. She has called for the immediate intervention of international human rights institutions and emphasized that silence in the face of this new wave of repression amounts to complicity with a misogynistic regime. Despite repeated Taliban promises to respect women’s rights, what is seen in practice is the organized suppression of women’s fundamental freedoms, even in the digital space. The Taliban have not only deprived women of work, education, and freedom of expression, but are now deliberately attempting to cut off their very breathing in the virtual world. These actions are taking place while the international community continues to remain a silent observer of these crimes.

Photo: UN_HRC Richard Bennett, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, has warned that the Taliban’s ban on the education of women and girls constitutes “extremism” and puts the future of Afghanistan at risk of destruction. On Friday (September 26), speaking at a side event of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, he said that the Taliban’s focus on religious indoctrination instead of formal education deprives the young generation of Afghanistan of opportunity and hope. Bennett emphasized that documented reports on the situation in Afghanistan are vital for shaping global discussions and effective international action. He also stressed the necessity of creating platforms for Afghan voices to be heard, especially those of Islamic scholars and experts, stating that their perspectives play a key role in countering the Taliban’s narratives. The UN Special Rapporteur, while condemning the suppression of civil society, the intimidation of critics, and the Taliban’s reprisals against opponents, said: “Despite the Taliban’s pressure to silence dissenting voices, the actions of this group remain under the scrutiny of the international community.” These remarks come as the Taliban, since their return to power in August 2021, have severely restricted freedom of expression and civil activities. Multiple reports of violations of free speech, suppression of civil protests, and restrictions on independent institutions in Afghanistan have created serious concerns at the international level.