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Zan News: The U.S. Department of State has called the Taliban's ban on girls' education in medical institutes an "unjustifiable attack on their access to education" and strongly condemned the decision. Photo: AP The U.S. Condemns the Taliban's Ban on Girls' Education in Medical Institutes December 12, 2024 Zan News Zan News: The U.S. Department of State has called the Taliban's ban on girls' education in medical institutes an "unjustifiable attack on their access to education" and strongly condemned the decision. In a statement issued on Wednesday (December 11), the Department said: "This directive is the latest in a series of efforts that put the rights and lives of Afghan women and girls at risk." The statement also emphasized that the United States remains committed to supporting the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan and will stand alongside all Afghans in advocating for their full, equal, and meaningful participation in all aspects of society. The U.S. State Department added: "The international community must be united and explicit in condemning these actions and supporting the people of Afghanistan, especially women and girls." This condemnation follows the recent Taliban decree banning girls from studying in medical institutes. Previously, United Nations experts also condemned the Taliban's decision, calling it an unjustifiable move.

Zan News: A group of Afghan journalists and human rights activists residing in Iran has called for action to combat violence against women in Afghanistan. Afghan Journalists and Human Rights Activists in Iran Call for Action Against Violence Against Women in Afghanistan December 1, 2024 Zan News Zan News: A group of Afghan journalists and human rights activists residing in Iran has called for action to combat violence against women in Afghanistan. During a meeting held yesterday, these activists emphasized the need for practical measures to address violence against women in Afghanistan. The organizers of the meeting urged human rights organizations and countries involved in Afghan issues to prioritize women's rights. This comes as, with the return of the Taliban to power, Afghan women have been deprived of many of their fundamental rights, including the right to education, work, and individual freedoms. It is worth mentioning that recently, six countries, including Chile, France, and Spain, have referred the case of Taliban's violations of women's rights to the International Criminal Court. This action has been welcomed by the court. These countries have called for holding the Taliban accountable for the widespread human rights violations in Afghanistan.

Zan News: Recent research from the "War Project" affiliated with the Brown University International Affairs Institute reveals that one in four U.S. female soldiers in Afghanistan has experienced "sexual assault." Photo: Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes Findings of a Research : One in Four U.S. Female Soldiers in Afghanistan Experienced Sexual Assault August 15, 2024 Zan News Zan News: Recent research from the "War Project" affiliated with the Brown University International Affairs Institute reveals that one in four U.S. female soldiers in Afghanistan has experienced "sexual assault." The research, published in the War Costs Journal on Wednesday (August 14), emphasizes that 1.9% of U.S. male soldiers also encountered such experiences in Afghanistan. The research indicates that "these soldiers were subjected to sexual assault during their service between 2001 and 2021 in Afghanistan, with Black women and sexual minorities among U.S. military personnel facing higher rates of sexual violence." According to Brown University’s findings, the number of "sexual assault" cases in the U.S. military reached approximately 150,000 in 2021 and 2023. In contrast, the U.S. Department of Defense previously reported 35,900 cases in 2021 and 29,000 cases in 2023. Unlike the Department of Defense’s statistics, Brown University’s research cites 75,569 cases in 2021 and 73,695 cases in 2023. Jennifer Greenberg, the report’s author, stated that "the focus on troop readiness in post-September 11 wars, rather than other issues, has led to an increase in problems of sexual assault, domestic violence, and gender inequalities in military institutions." The U.S. Department of Defense has called this situation "unacceptable" and stated that continuous efforts will be made to provide a safe environment and prevent sexual assault while holding perpetrators accountable. This is despite the fact that there have been reports of "sexual assault" among the American military before.

Zan News: On Wednesday (January 8), the Human Rights Activists Union issued a statement expressing serious concern over the widespread detention of Afghan migrants and refugees in Pakistan, condemning these actions. Photo: AFP Human Rights Activists Union: Afghan Refugees in Pakistan Are Victims of Taliban Oppression and Violence January 9, 2025 Zan News Zan News: On Wednesday (January 8), the Human Rights Activists Union issued a statement expressing serious concern over the widespread detention of Afghan migrants and refugees in Pakistan, condemning these actions. The statement reads: "Afghan refugees in Pakistan are victims of the oppression and violence of the Taliban terrorist group. Their illegal detention and mistreatment violate Islamic principles, international laws, and Pakistan’s humanitarian commitments." The union described this situation as alarming and called for the immediate cessation of arrests and the unconditional release of all detainees. It urged the Pakistani government to respect the human dignity of refugees and ensure that such inhumane behavior is not repeated. The statement also referenced reports indicating that some detainees were released after paying bribes or due to personal connections. The union labeled these actions as violations of Pakistan’s internal laws and principles of justice and human rights, emphasizing the need to address administrative shortcomings and combat corruption. The union warned that the continuation of such practices could severely harm relations between the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It stated: "We urge Pakistani authorities to guarantee justice and transparency instead of fostering structural corruption and to adhere to their international obligations. Such behaviors undermine claims of arresting individuals without legal documentation." The statement also highlighted the importance of collaboration between Afghanistan and Pakistan in combating terrorism and fostering regional stability. The union expressed its readiness to play a role in the fight against terrorist groups and urged Pakistan to strengthen relations based on mutual respect and friendly cooperation. In conclusion, the Human Rights Activists Union reaffirmed its commitment to defending the rights and dignity of Afghan refugees worldwide, stating that if detentions persist, it will use all media platforms to pursue the issue.

Zan News: AFP reports that in the past three years, due to the deprivation of Afghan women and girls from education and employment opportunities, many of them have turned to small businesses to support their families. Image: Wakil KOHSAR / AFP AFP: A Large Number of Afghan Women Turn to Small Businesses Due to Taliban Restrictions November 24, 2024 Zan News Zan News: AFP reports that in the past three years, due to the deprivation of Afghan women and girls from education and employment opportunities, many of them have turned to small businesses to support their families. The news agency quotes women working in small businesses in the country, explaining that they are striving to meet their family needs. One of these women, Zainab Firozi, supports her family through carpet weaving. She has employed dozens of women and girls in a small factory, who, due to Taliban restrictions, have been deprived of job and educational opportunities. According to the report, since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, the employment rate for women has drastically decreased. The UN Women notes that before the Taliban's return to power, women made up 26% of government employees, but now this figure has dropped to zero. On the other hand, Tooba Zahid, a 28-year-old mother from Kabul, turned to making jams and pickles after the ban on education for women and girls. She stated, “I entered the business world to create job opportunities for women so that they could have an income to meet their immediate needs.” However, Fariba Noori, President of the Afghanistan Women's Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AWCCI), emphasized that women like Tooba Zahid, who are involved in small businesses, are unable to promote and sell their products in the market on their own. Noori added that despite these challenges, the number of small registered factories in chamber has increased since the Taliban took power. She explained that over the past three years, the number of small and home-based businesses has risen from 600 large companies to around 10,000, along with a few larger businesses. Nevertheless, women working in these small factories have mentioned that their earnings are insufficient to meet the needs of their families. It is worth noting that since the Taliban returned to power, they have imposed severe restrictions on women’s education and employment, causing the most harm to families where women are the primary breadwinners.

"My father sold me to feed his stomach." "The pain of the 100 lashes the Taliban gave me in front of the public is engraved in my brain, mind, and bones." "My father is more cruel than the Taliban. I am sick, I weave carpets to earn money to go to the doctor, but my father says, why should a girl go to the doctor?" These are the quotes of Afghan girls and women who are experiencing their tragic lives under the shadow of the gun and the so-called Islamic regime of the Taliban. Image: AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd Afghanistan; Geography of Violence Against Women November 26, 2024 Ariahn Raya "My father sold me to feed his stomach." "The pain of the 100 lashes the Taliban gave me in front of the public is engraved in my brain, mind, and bones." "My father is more cruel than the Taliban. I am sick, I weave carpets to earn money to go to the doctor, but my father says, why should a girl go to the doctor?" These are the quotes of Afghan girls and women who are experiencing their tragic lives under the shadow of the gun and the so-called Islamic regime of the Taliban. November 25th is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women; but, in Afghanistan, violence in every sense has rooted deeply in every aspect of women's lives, intertwined with every moment of their existence, to the extent that the phenomenon of violence has become an inseparable part of the lives of women and girls in this country. Setara, a 15-year-old girl from Herat, once dreamed of becoming a pilot, hoping that one day she would soar above Afghanistan in a military aircraft, gazing at the land below. Every morning, she would tuck her books under her arm and head to school. However, now, with a voice filled with sorrow, a throat choked with emotion, and a body trembling from the pain and suffering, she says that with the rise of the Taliban and the ban on girls' education, not only has she not achieved her dream, but she has also experienced childhood motherhood, divorce, widowhood, and the burden of being the breadwinner for her family. She, just as she holds the strands of black wool, like her life, to weave them into a corner of her carpet, narrates her life’s hardships: "The rhythm of life did not dance to our tune. I was in seventh grade when the Taliban declared it forbidden for us to go to school. I, like thousands of other sisters, became a housebound girl. My father said I had to marry my cousin. I refused, but by force, he made me marry. Truly, my father sold me to fill his stomach. Seven months passed since my wedding, and he divorced me." Tears and crying no longer allow Setara peace. As she holds a corner of her scarf with her right hand and wipes away her tears, she says: "The Taliban showed no mercy to me, it was the people. But why did my father, who I was a part of, do this to me? Right now, neither my father provides food and expenses for me and my child, nor do I have anyone else. It has been two and a half years since my divorce and marriage." Setara, who once shone like a star among dozens of other girls and was the top student from first to seventh grade, now carries the sorrow of not having a guardian along with the responsibility of her eight-month-old child. Although Afghanistan has long been a place of violence for girls and women, with the return of the Taliban to power, life for millions of women and girls in Afghanistan has once again turned into a life in hell. Over three years since the Taliban’s gender-apartheid rule and the imposition of restrictions on work, activity, education, and learning for women and girls, the group has adopted its official and systematic policy of misogyny. Ayla Mohammadi, a 16-year-old girl and a resident of Daikundi province, still spends her nights haunted by nightmares of prison and the Taliban's whip, two years after the bitter reality of being publicly flogged. She says that for the crime of going to the Daikundi market with her cousin, she was arrested, imprisoned, and publicly flogged by the Taliban: "My father is in Iran, and I had no one else. I went to the market with my cousin to buy household items, but the Islamic Emirate forces arrested me, accusing me of going out with a non-mahram. They told me he was my boyfriend. We were imprisoned for two months, and every day they beat us with cables and whips." Ayla, with tearful eyes, continues her words and adds: "They would tie my hands with handcuffs. I was in an underground prison. After two months, they took me to a public square in front of all the people and lashed me 100 times for the crime of adultery. The burning sensation from the 100 lashes that the Taliban gave me in front of the public is engraved in my mind, my thoughts, and my bones. I will never forget how they unjustly tarnished my reputation." Aisha, another girl deprived of education and suffering from depression, has sought refuge in a carpet weaving workshop to find the funds for her treatment. However, she says that not only is she facing the injustice imposed on women and girls by the Taliban, but the oppression from her father is no less than that of the Taliban. "Last year, I went to school for the last time. When we finished sixth grade, the Taliban said we couldn’t go to school anymore. I became a housebound girl and fell into depression. I always cry. I’m sick, and for my treatment, I came to weave carpets. But my father takes the two thousand Afghanis I earn in a month. My father is even more cruel than the Taliban. I’m sick, weaving carpets so I can see a doctor, but my father says, ‘Why should a girl go to the doctor?’" While girls and women share bitter and harrowing accounts of the violence they face from the Taliban and domestic abuse, this year, on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls, various domestic and international organizations, including the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, Amnesty International, the Afghan Center for Legal Studies and Research, and protest movements, once again called for an end to the violence against women and girls in Afghanistan in their statements.

Zan News: A number of politicians, former government officials, and human rights activists have sent an open letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, urging the international community to provide meaningful support for the fundamental rights of the Afghan people. Photo: Shutterstock Politicians and Human Rights Activists Call for Meaningful Global Support for the Fundamental Rights of Afghan People October 7, 2024 Zan News Zan News: A number of politicians, former government officials, and human rights activists have sent an open letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, urging the international community to provide meaningful support for the fundamental rights of the Afghan people. In the letter, they call on the UN Security Council, the Human Rights Council, and UNAMA to take immediate and strong action to guarantee the rights of Afghan citizens in line with international human rights documents. The letter specifically highlights the detention of political analyst Jawed Kohistani by the Taliban, describing it as a case of "forced disappearance" and a clear violation of international human rights law. The authors stress that Kohistani’s denial of access to medical care constitutes "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment." The Taliban are accused in the letter of systematically violating the civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights of the Afghan people. The activists and politicians also call on UNAMA to pressure the Taliban to provide transparency regarding detentions and to ensure detainees' unconditional access to fair trials. Other demands include launching an investigation by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women into the Taliban's policies and pressuring the group to lift the travel ban on Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan. The letter is signed by figures such as Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta, former Foreign Minister; Malik Setiz, researcher and human rights defender; Abdul Latif Pedram, politician; Shaharzad Akbar, former Chair of the Afghanistan Human Rights Commission; Shukria Barakzai, former member of parliament; and Mujib Khelwatgar, journalist. It is noteworthy that over the past three years, the Taliban have violated the rights of Afghan citizens, particularly women and girls. During this period, numerous human rights activists and journalists have been detained by the Taliban. In just the past few days, the group has arrested and imprisoned a political analyst and two journalists.

Zan News: António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, has stated that he is joining countries and organizations calling on the Taliban to immediately lift all discriminatory restrictions against women and girls. Photo: Photothek via Getty Images Guterres Compares the Situation of Women in Afghanistan to the Most Egregious Repressive Systems in History September 29, 2024 Zan News Zan News: António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, has stated that he is joining countries and organizations calling on the Taliban to immediately lift all discriminatory restrictions against women and girls. In a post on X (formerly Twitter) today, Sunday (September 29), Guterres wrote that the current situation in Afghanistan can be compared to some of the most egregious repressive systems in modern history. These remarks by the UN Secretary-General follow a warning from four countries: Canada, Germany, Australia, and the Netherlands, who have issued a joint statement declaring that they will sue the Taliban before the International Court of Justice for violating the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women if the Taliban do not end gender discrimination. Over 20 countries have supported this statement. It's worth noting that Afghanistan is a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, but the Taliban government, which is not recognized as the government of Afghanistan, has not adhered to this convention. Since taking power in Afghanistan, the Taliban have imposed severe restrictions on women and girls. Over the past three years, women and girls in Afghanistan have been deprived of their most basic rights, including education and work, by the group. Human rights experts describe the Taliban's policies against women as "gender apartheid" and warn that the group's actions may be considered crimes of gender persecution. However, the Taliban say that accusing the group of human rights abuses and gender discrimination is "unjustified" and is "false propaganda" spread by a number of women against the group.

Zan News: On the third anniversary of the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, members of the Purple Saturdays Movement held protest rallies in the provinces of Takhar, Balkh, Panjshir, and Kabul, stating that Afghanistan under three years of Taliban rule is a "despairing and dangerous" reality. Sent to Zan News Purple Saturdays Movement: Taliban and Haqqani Network are the main perpetrators of the killings of Shia and Hazara in Afghanistan August 15, 2024 Zan News Zan News: On the third anniversary of the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, members of the Purple Saturdays Movement held protest rallies in the provinces of Takhar, Balkh, Panjshir, and Kabul, stating that Afghanistan under three years of Taliban rule is a "despairing and dangerous" reality. In a resolution issued today, Thursday (August 15), the movement emphasized that the Taliban's return to power has led to a "widespread crisis for the people of Afghanistan, especially women, vulnerable ethnic groups, and religious minorities." The Taliban, by committing "crimes against humanity, gender apartheid, and widespread human rights abuses," have set the country back significantly, requiring years of effort to recover. The resolution states: "Another part of the bitter and shameful reality of three years of rule by the criminal and warlord Taliban regime is the enmity, deprivation, and suppression of women and girls in Afghanistan, efforts to normalize violence under the guise of implementing Afghan and Islamic culture, and kidnapping, assault, and rape, especially of women protesters by this group." The resolution adds: "By stealing international aid, looting mines, and national revenue, while ignoring millions of poor and hungry people, especially women and children in Afghanistan, the Taliban have consistently sought to promote their ideology, establish jihadi schools, and finance terrorist groups over the past year. Contrary to all commitments, they have not only failed to cut ties with other terrorist groups but have also provided them with safe havens, training centers, and financial support, turning the country into a safe and vital base for international terrorists." The movement says that while the Taliban claim to have secured Afghanistan and defeated ISIS, the targeted killings of Shia and Hazara continue, indicating that "these attacks are planned and carried out by the Taliban themselves, especially the Haqqani network." The resolution also states that the Taliban have closed the door to any dialogue or reconciliation by severely suppressing peaceful protests and have called on all involved parties to "focus on changing the political system in Afghanistan and establishing a just and inclusive government" that can fundamentally solve the country's problems, rather than focusing on individuals (who can save Afghanistan?). According to the movement, political leaders must build a strong coalition to gain the trust of the Afghan people and work to create a strong alternative to the Taliban. In conclusion, the movement calls for the arrest and trial of Taliban leaders, particularly in international courts, to achieve justice and end the culture of impunity in Afghanistan.

Zan News: Local Taliban officials in Farah Province have reported that 26 people were killed and injured following flooding in the Pushtkoh district of the province. Heavy Rainfall and Flooding in Farah and Helmand Provinces Leave 29 Dead and Injured February 25, 2025 Zan News Zan News: Local Taliban officials in Farah Province have reported that 26 people were killed and injured following flooding in the Pushtkoh district of the province. Mohammad Esraeil Siyar, the head of Taliban's Natural Disaster Management in Farah, stated that due to heavy rainfall and flooding in the Pushtkoh district, 21 people, including women and children, lost their lives, and 5 others were injured. According to sources, the incident occurred around 1:00 PM today, Tuesday (25 February), when three families had gone to a mountain in the village of Kojar in the Pushtkoh district for recreation. Simultaneously, the Taliban in Helmand Province also reported that 3 people died due to heavy rainfall and flooding in various areas of the province. Abdul Bari Rashid, the head of Taliban's Information and Culture in Helmand, said that the flooding caused by heavy rainfall in the Musa Kala, Grishk, and Babaji districts claimed the lives of three people, including one woman.