After the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, they immediately began rolling back the rights of women and girls. Women began to protest on the streets since Taliban’s first week in power, despite the grave risks they faced in doing so.
According to Human Rights Watch, the Taliban response was brutal from the beginning, beating protesters, disrupting protests, and detaining and torturing journalists covering the demonstrations. The Taliban also banned unauthorized protests. Over time, the Taliban’s abusive responses escalated, with a particularly brutal response to a protest on January 16 in Kabul, when Taliban members threatened, intimidated, and physically assaulted protesters, using pepper spray and electric shock devices.
Notably, the situation of human rights in Afghanistan has worsened since the collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban’s return to power in August last year.
Although the fighting in the country has ended, serious human rights violations continue unabated, especially against women and minorities. Besides this, the continuously soaring prices of food products in the country have emerged as a new challenge for Afghans. In a span of one year, food prices have almost doubled, reported Khaama Press. (ANI)