The World Liberty Congress (WLC) strongly condemns the Taliban’s recent arrests of dozens of women in Herat Province for allegedly violating the Taliban’s imposed dress code, as well as the reported use of force against peaceful civilians exercising their fundamental right to protest.
These actions are yet another manifestation of the Taliban’s systematic campaign to erase women from public life, silence dissent, and govern through fear and repression. No woman should be arrested, humiliated, or detained for her appearance, and no citizen should face violence for peacefully expressing their views.
The continued persecution of women, journalists, human rights defenders, and civil society activists demonstrates the Taliban’s complete disregard for fundamental human rights and international norms. These abuses are not isolated incidents; they are part of a broader system of institutionalised discrimination and oppression that amounts to gender apartheid.
The World Liberty Congress calls for:
- The immediate and unconditional release of all women detained in Herat and elsewhere in Afghanistan.
- The immediate release of all imprisoned Journalists, human rights defenders, and civil society activists.
- An immediate end to violence, intimidation, and arbitrary detention.
- Urgent action by the United Nations, democratic governments, regional organisations, and the international community to hold the Taliban accountable for ongoing human rights violations and gender-based persecution.
- Increased international efforts to recognise and address gender apartheid as a crime under international law.
We stand in solidarity with the women of Afghanistan and all those who continue to courageously defend freedom, dignity, and justice under one of the world’s most repressive regimes.
The international community must not remain silent while gender apartheid is enforced, peaceful dissent is crushed, and fundamental freedoms are systematically denied.
World Liberty Congress
