ANKARA, Turkey (AP) 鈥� Afghanistan鈥檚 Taliban authorities have 鈥渇orcibly disappeared鈥� six staff members of a local organization working on women鈥檚 and children鈥檚 rights, a U.S.-based advocacy group said, following a separate U.N. report that in the country were detained.
The reported detentions come as Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers prepare to mark the fifth anniversary of their return to power on Saturday.
The six men 鈥� employees of the Women and Children Legal Research Foundation 鈥� were detained on July 18 after they were told to come to their office to retrieve confiscated laptops and phones, Human Rights Watch said in a statement released late Wednesday. Their families were given no information about their whereabouts, their condition or possible charges.
Human Rights Watch called on the Taliban to allow family and lawyers to visit the detained and for them to be 鈥渋mmediately released unless they have been charged with a recognizable offense.鈥�
The statement came after the U.N. said two Afghan members of its political mission were detained on Sunday in the western city of Herat by the Taliban鈥檚 General Directorate of Intelligence. The U.N. mission has not been informed of the charges against the two men or been able to visit them, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters.
The mission has called on the Taliban 鈥渢o ensure compliance with the privileges and immunities of the United Nations and its officials,鈥� Haq said.
There was no immediate comment on the two incidents from the Taliban, which seized power on Aug. 15, 2021, as U.S. and NATO forces withdrew from the country after two decades of war.
Shortly after taking power, it and later extended the restrictions to higher education, employment and other sectors, effectively excluding women and girls from public life.
鈥淭he Taliban seems to consider any effort to assist women and girls a threat to their abusive rule,鈥� said Macarena S谩ez, women鈥檚 rights director at Human Rights Watch. 鈥淭hey should immediately provide information on the six staff members鈥� whereabouts and release them if held unlawfully.鈥�
Human Rights Watch said the detention of the six employees came a month after the security forces searched and sealed their office in Kabul and interrogated staff members about their work.
The U.N. mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, said Thursday it had no information on the reported six detentions or whether the two incidents were connected.
The detentions come as in the poverty-stricken Asian nation is worsening and as Taliban forces are engaged in cross-border fighting with Pakistani forces. Clashes escalated sharply in February when Afghan forces launched a raid into Pakistan in retaliation . Islamabad later declared it was in 鈥渙pen war.鈥�
The U.N. mission鈥檚 mandate from the U.N. Security Council includes promoting and supporting humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, promoting human rights, equality for women and girls, inclusive governance and economic stability.
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