Amnesty International: Manizheh Seddiqi must be released immediately

Amnesty International has announced that Manizheh Seddiqi, a women’s rights activist who was arbitrarily detained by the Taliban security forces on October 9, 2023, is at risk of torture and other abuses.

In a letter addressed to Abdulhaq Wasiq, the head of the intelligence department of the Taliban administration, the organization stated that “Manizheh Seddiqi has been detained arbitrarily and solely for exercising her right to freedom of expression and participating in peaceful assemblies.”

Amnesty International expressed deep concern in this letter about the situation of Manizheh in the custody of the Taliban and stated that “she is at risk of torture and other abuses.”

In another message on the social media platform, Amnesty International wrote that since the return of the Taliban to power in August 2021, women protesters in Afghanistan have been subjected to forced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, torture, and other abuses.

According to the statement, Manizheh, a human rights defender who was arbitrarily detained on October 9, 2023, does not have access to lawyers or regular family visits while in the custody of the Taliban.

Amnesty International has added at the end of its statement that Manizheh must be immediately and unconditionally released.

The organization has described the Taliban’s actions in detaining women protesters as a blatant violation of human rights and added that the detention of women activists without committing any crimes, such as Manizheh, contradicts international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Afghanistan is a member.

This comes in light of recent reports about the torture of women protesters in Taliban prisons. An audio recording containing the voice of Manizheh’s mother, in which she pleaded tearfully with human rights organizations to expedite her daughter’s release from the Taliban’s prison, was also released.

There is no credible information available about the physical and mental well-being of Manizheh in the custody of the Taliban. However, the United Nations has not made any statements regarding this issue in its quarterly reports.

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