UN asks IEA to probe issue of missing Afghan women

KABUL (Agencies): The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has called on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to ensure the release of women activists who have been “reportedly abducted from their homes” since last Wednesday in Kabul. Deborah Lyons, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, met with Sirajuddin Haqqani, the IEA’s interior minister, urging “the Taliban (IEA) leadership to probe [the] issue and secure the liberty of the missing Afghan women activists who were reportedly abducted from their homes last week,” UNAMA said in a tweet.
Tamana Zaryab Paryani, her three sisters, and Parwana Ibrahimkhel, who had participated in recent anti-IEA protests in Kabul, were arrested from their homes last Wednesday, according to family members and eyewitnesses. However, the IEA’s Interior Ministry said in a series of tweets that during the meeting Lyons thanked the Minister of the Interior for providing security for UN staff in Afghanistan. The interior ministry stated that they reassured the UN that its offices and staff would be secure.
The IEA also stated that Lyons noted the international community realizes it must work with Afghans to eliminate poverty.” IEA spokesmen in Kabul and Doha have meanwhile repeatedly denied any involvement in the disappearance of the women activists. The detention of these women activists was also discussed at a meeting of civil society activists with the IEA in Norway this week, but the whereabouts of the women is not clear.