UN independent human rights experts have expressed profound concern over multiple reports detailing arbitrary arrests, detention and ill-treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan, Ednews informs, citing the UN.
The incidents, which have surged since early January, are purportedly linked to violations of the Taliban’s stringent dress code for women.
The Human Rights Council-appointed experts called on de facto authorities to comply with Afghanistan’s human rights obligations, including under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
The Taliban crackdown initially began in western Kabul, predominantly inhabited by the minority ethnic Hazara community – which has been the target of extremist violence for years – but swiftly expanded to other areas, including Tajik-populated regions and provinces such as Bamiyan, Baghlan, Balkh, Daykundi and Kunduz.
Women and girls reportedly accused by the Taliban of wearing “bad hijab” were arrested during the operation in public places, including shopping centres, schools and street markets.
Some were forcibly taken to police vehicles, held incommunicado and denied legal representation, according to a news release issued by UN rights office OHCHR on behalf of the experts.