Witness 12 In-person Testimony

For Justice, Freedom, and the Awakened Conscience of Humanity

I, Ghiasi, am a human rights activist.

Distinguished members of the People’s Tribunal for Women of Afghanistan and esteemed guests, I stand before you today not just as a witness, but as someone whose family, friends, and community have endured the brutality of the Taliban regime since they returned to power on August 15, 2021.

What I share with you today reports on systemic oppression and screams for justice on behalf of millions of Afghan women and girls whose voices have been silenced. As an Afghan citizen, I have directly and indirectly witnessed the Taliban’s extensive violations.

After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, they systematically deprived women of their most fundamental human, political, and civil rights. These actions clearly violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, all of which Afghanistan is a member.

The Taliban imposed severe restrictions, practically eliminating women’s right to education, work, political and social participation, freedom of expression, and even freedom of movement. These restrictions not only marginalized women but also forced a system of gender discrimination and gender apartheid upon society.

I stand here today, not just as a political and human rights activist, but as a living witness to the suffering and forced silence of our community. After the fall of the Republic and the return of the Taliban, my life and activities, like those of thousands of other women, fell under a shadow of threat and restriction. They stripped me of the right to work, the right to speak, and even the right to be present in public spaces. My life completely changed. The environment shifted so drastically that I had no freedom of expression, no freedom of movement, and not even the freedom to choose my own clothing.

My activities over many years in various sectors in Afghanistan, along with my social and civil views, were constantly monitored and subjected to direct and indirect threats. After the Taliban’s takeover, expressing any opinion on the political, social, or women’s rights situation became a crime and a danger. I could no longer speak freely on political and civil issues in public assemblies or civil sessions. Every word and action could lead to arrest and torture.

The Taliban extensively imposed restrictions on people’s daily lives, particularly women’s. We lost the right to education, the right to freedom of expression, the right to work, the right to participate in meetings and gatherings, and even the right to move around without a male guardian (mahram). We had to seek permission to leave the house, and faced threats and humiliation if we did not comply with the Taliban’s required dress code.

As an individual who believes in freedom, justice, and equality, I had neither security nor the possibility of continuing a normal life in that environment. Individuals affiliated with the Taliban directly threatened me verbally several times, and I felt that I could be arrested or harmed at any moment. Every step I took for awareness, justice, or equality encountered a wall of fear, threat, and censorship. My home became a quiet sanctuary, a place suspended between hope and anxiety.

In reality, the Taliban’s return meant the loss of all my fundamental human rights: the right to express myself, the right to education, the right to choose my clothing, the right to movement, and the right to personal security. Fear, repression, and coercion replaced my hope, freedom, and civil participation. We could no longer engage in civil and political activities in a country called Afghanistan because the Taliban’s decrees, since their return, have turned life for women in Afghanistan into a prison without walls.

The Taliban issued a decree banning the right to education, closing schools and universities, and thereby took the right to education from women. They banned women from the right to work, except in a few sectors where a ban is not feasible, such as the health sector and media, and even those sectors face increased restrictions. They stripped us of the right to gatherings, protests, and civil activities.

The Taliban first censored the media by imposing restrictions. They enforced the wearing of a mask and compulsory covering for female journalists. The Taliban issued countless decrees with the goal of putting Afghan women in a difficult situation, but my experience is part of the bitter reality for Afghan women. It symbolizes the future of awareness and equality for Afghan women that a suppressive political agenda crushed.

What is happening in Afghanistan is not just an incident; it is part of the Taliban’s systematic policy to eliminate women from social, educational, and political life. I am both a witness and a victim—as a woman deprived of freedom and as an observer who saw the destruction of hope for the girls of this land.

I ask this People’s Tribunal for Justice for Women of Afghanistan to officially record this truth and make it heard by the world. By closing the doors of schools, imposing restrictions, and censoring freedom of expression, the Taliban have closed the door on a nation’s future.

With respect and belief in justice.