RASC News Agency: On Saturday, January 25, the Taliban coerced several men and women in Bamyan to participate in protests supporting their leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, and opposing the International Criminal Court (ICC). Despite the Taliban’s general prohibition against women partaking in public demonstrations, local officials compelled some women to protest separately, far from the male participants, to express solidarity with Akhundzada. According to sources, Abdullah Sarhadi, the Taliban-appointed governor of Bamyan, alongside the group’s intelligence chief, pressured Shia residents to join the protests. The governor personally contacted influential tribal leaders, urging them to mobilize their communities to oppose the ICC’s decision.
This development comes after the ICC’s chief prosecutor formally requested arrest warrants for Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s supreme leader, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, the group’s chief justice, on allegations of crimes against humanity and the systematic oppression of women. Images circulating in the media show a group of men protesting in Bamyan’s Alchin Square. In a controversial move, the Taliban also forced a limited number of women to demonstrate at a separate location. Photographs reveal a small gathering of women, some accompanied by children, participating in the protest. Hasna Ahmadi, one of the coerced demonstrators, described the ICC’s request as “unlawful and unfair.”
Reports indicate that the Taliban’s education director threatened female teachers, warning that their salaries would be withheld if they refused to attend the protest. These staged demonstrations represent a calculated effort by the Taliban to portray opposition to the ICC’s actions while concealing the coercive measures behind the turnout. In a prior statement, the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs dismissed the ICC’s arrest warrants as “politically motivated, unjust, and lacking impartiality.” Despite these attempts to project defiance, the ICC’s move has garnered widespread support from the Afghanistani public, particularly women and human rights organizations. Advocates have urged the ICC to swiftly approve the prosecutor’s request and proceed with issuing arrest warrants against the Taliban leaders.
Over the past three years, the Taliban have systematically suppressed women’s rights, imposing harsh restrictions and violently quelling women-led protests, including those in Bamyan. Ironically, on January 25, the group resorted to coercion to force women to stage demonstrations in defense of Akhundzada, starkly underscoring their contradictory and oppressive policies.
