The Story of Azadah

Azadah is a 32-year-old Tajik woman from Gulbahar in northern Afghanistan. Before the Taliban's return to power in 2021, she was a dedicated civil activist advocating for women's rights. She worked with an international legal and research organization called KAWA, traveling to remote districts and villages to document cases of violence against women, forced marriages, and underage marriages. At the same time, she was pursuing her education in her second year at the Najwanda Institute, studying midwifery with the dream of becoming a gynecologist and obstetrician to serve women in her community.

When the Taliban regained control, they systematically dismantled women's rights: The Ministry of Women’s Affairs was abolished, schools and universities were closed to girls and women, and employment opportunities for women vanished. Azadah was forced to abandon her studies and career aspirations. Feeling a deep sense of loss and injustice, she joined the Afghan women’s protest movement, participating in both street demonstrations and private gatherings to demand the right to education, work, and basic human rights.

Azadah took part in peaceful protests organized by women activists, including indoor gatherings held in private venues when street protests became too dangerous. On October 8, 2023, she responded to a call from a colleague to join a small gathering in support of two arrested fellow activists, Julia Parsi and Neda Parwani. Upon arriving at the agreed location near Haji Yaqub Square in Kabul, she was ambushed by Taliban intelligence agents. Her participation in the women's protest movement—and her refusal to remain silent—made her a target.

Taliban agents—five armed men with no female officers present—surrounded her, struck her repeatedly with rifle butts, handcuffed her, placed a black bag over her head, and threw her into a vehicle. She was taken to a secret detention facility known as Department 40. There, she endured electric shocks until she lost consciousness, solitary confinement in iron-doored cells, and prolonged isolation. After about two months, she was transferred to Pul-e-Charkhi prison, where conditions were overcrowded and inhumane. She spent a total of six and a half months in detention, much of it in solitary or semi-isolated cells under constant surveillance, including cameras that denied her any privacy.

No formal charges were initially presented, and Azadah was denied access to a lawyer or family during interrogations. Taliban interrogators—mostly clerics in traditional attire—accused her of opposing the Islamic Emirate, promoting disbelief, receiving foreign funding, and ties to resistance groups due to her Tajik ethnicity and northern origins. They demanded she unlock her phone and reveal the names of other activists. When she resisted, she faced severe torture, including electric shocks and beatings. Later "trials" consisted of closed sessions with panels of five clerics; her hired lawyer was expelled from the courtroom under threat of arrest. She was eventually sentenced to one and a half years in prison in a process devoid of fairness or evidence presented in her defense.

Key human rights violations observed: 

• Severe physical violence and cruel treatment: Beatings with rifle butts, electric shocks causing loss of consciousness, and ongoing torture leading to lasting injuries, including breathing difficulties, chronic back pain, memory loss, and weakened eyesight.
• Sexual violence and gender-based abuse: Repeated sexual assaults during detention, compounded by threats and humiliation; no female guards were involved in searches, interrogations, or oversight.
• Discrimination based on gender and ethnicity: Insults labeling her a "disbeliever" for protesting as a woman; intensified abuse due to her Tajik background and suspected links to northern resistance areas; family members beaten and surveilled.
• Inhuman detention conditions: Solitary confinement, denial of privacy (forced undressing under male-monitored cameras), inadequate food, and exposure to sounds of others being tortured.
• Complete absence of due process: No access to legal counsel, fair trial, or independent judiciary; forced confession under duress.

After six and a half months, Azadah was released on April 7, 2024, under a "pardon" decree, but only after her family sold their home to pay a $5,000 bribe, provided guarantees she would not protest again, and she was coerced into a public video confession denying torture and claiming good treatment. The Taliban also demanded she not leave the country and threatened her family with death if she spoke out.

Fearing recruitment by Taliban intelligence and further reprisals, Azadah and her family fled to Pakistan, where they have lived in limbo for over a year (as of December 2024) without visas, work rights, or assistance from organizations. Her father suffered permanent paralysis from beatings, and the family faces ongoing trauma.

Azadah's story illustrates the extreme risks faced by Afghan women who dare to demand their rights, and the ongoing impunity for grave abuses under Taliban rule. Even in exile, the fear persists, and calls for accountability and support for survivors remain urgent.