For International Women’s Day on March 8, Zan Times is publishing eight narratives of eight women activists who defied the Taliban. Telling their stories humanizes the struggles of so many women against the Taliban’s misogynist regime and also records their bravery in the face of imprisonment and torture chambers.
On November 3, 2022, we wanted to inaugurate the Afghanistan Women’s Movement for Equality. We informed all the media outlets. The event was to be held in a salon in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood of Kabul. We had prepared two resolutions for this inauguration. One had a calm tone that we would read if allowed by the Taliban. We had also prepared another resolution with a harsher tone. If they didn’t allow us to read the calm resolution, we planned to continue with the session and read the harsher version. When the Taliban found out about the event, they expelled the media from the salon. They didn’t allow anyone to stay; only three of our colleagues remained. We still announced the existence of the movement. When our program ended, two Taliban members came in and said no one had the right to leave and that we should hand over our phones. They asked who Zarifa was. I introduced myself. They said it had been reported to them that this place was a brothel.
They hit my arm with a baton. Shortly afterward, four female soldiers arrived and handcuffed me. They also took my mobile phone. I asked where they were taking me, but, without answering, they hit me with another baton and put me in a car. By the time we reached the Pol-e Sukhta area, they had put a bag over my head.
They took me to the Kabul Directorate where I was put in a cold room. They brought my mobile phone and had me enter the password and unlock it. I did.
After the Taliban men left, some female Taliban said our family members had to guarantee us [offer guarantees so we could be released]. I gave them my aunt’s husband’s number. They called him. A few hours later, my sister came with some relatives to offer guarantees so I could be freed. The Taliban said we had to wait for the boss. Three nights passed, and I realized they had orders not to let anyone see me. They said the phone should not be given to me and I had no right to contact anyone. They also imprisoned my sister who had come to guarantee me. She became ill. They brought a bowl of beans and said they would take my sister to the doctor, and I would be transferred to another place for questioning. I thought they were taking me to the Pul-e-Charkhi prison, where I would be detained for a long time.
My sister and I passed through several layers of Taliban security in the new centre to end up in the women’s section on the second floor. After being unable to sleep for the previous three nights, I couldn’t sleep there, either. The next day, around 1 p.m., their commander gave me an “Accused Form” to fill out. I explained that I was the only accused and wouldn’t let them include my sister’s name on the form. At 4 p.m., I was interrogated. They asked a lot of questions about my work and life. They didn’t say anything about the protests. I said they should release my sister, explaining that I am the accused and they could ask me anything.
The next day, during an interrogation about the protests, they asked me a lot more questions. I had nothing to hide because everything was on my mobile. I explained where and when the protests started. I said I participated in the demonstrations on August 13, as well as the protests in front of Kabul University, the protests against the genocide of Hazaras, and the protests against their soldiers who didn’t allow us to donate blood. They said they knew me from the demonstrations against the genocide of Hazaras. After a while, they asked me which country was paying us to protest against the system. I said that no government was paying us. The interrogator changed daily; one day, the interrogator was Persian-speaking, and the next, Pashto-speaking, with an interpreter.
As days passed, I worried every moment. I waited for another sister to come for a visit and bring me clothes, but there was no news of her. I felt terrible and needed to bathe. The female soldiers said the boss didn’t allow me to bathe. My sister was crying and mourning. They transferred us to another room. The situation in the new room was worse than the first one. The weather was cold and I was dressed in thin clothes with a shawl. I got my period while not having access to pads or permission to use the bathroom. Eventually, I had to resort to using my underwear instead of pads. After 15 days, they allowed me to bathe. When I woke up, I was returned to the interrogation room. The interrogator asked about my connections with Samiullah Sadat and Ata Mohammad Noor; my answer was negative [she had no connection with them].
Along with asking me about the protests and incitement of people against their government, they asked about my connection with Fawzia Koofi; my answer was positive [she had a connection with Koofi]. They also asked about my relationship with Mohammad Mohaqiq; my response was negative. They also asked about the phone numbers stored on my mobile. They said, “You prostitutes from Hazara ethnicity do these things for money and [to make] refugee cases in the Western countries. I said, “No, I will never leave Afghanistan.”
After 20 days, they gave me some of my own clothes, though they didn’t say who brought them. They didn’t give us shampoo in prison. I gave 500 afghani to a Taliban woman named Aunt Roshan to let me use the toilet. She said I would go to the bathroom for the air, but I had a fungal infection and needed to go to the bathroom.
Thirty-two days passed. During this time, both Taliban men and women beat me constantly. After this period, they said I had to get ready to confess.
They said I shouldn’t mention anything about the insults, humiliations, and tortures, including electric shocks, and I should express satisfaction with the emirate’s behaviour. Eventually, at midnight, four people (two camerapersons and two soldiers) had me express my views on their political system. They handed me a piece of written paper that essentially stated: “When we leave here, we will work with the Taliban government. We will defend the Taliban in the media and cooperate with them. We have not been tortured in prison.” The paper stated that they were the ones who incited me to protest and that the U.S. gave us money and supported our protests.
I did not confess that night. Farhat Popalzai, who was imprisoned with me, did not confess either. The Taliban said the boss was coming again and wanted to interrogate me. I had already been interrogated eight times. Their boss came with six people wearing masks and carrying batons. They said I made a big mistake by forming a movement.
I have not taken up arms; raising one’s voice is the right of every citizen. I also raised my voice during the republican era. I had also organized protests during the Tabasoom Movement, when a seven-year-old girl who had participated in protests had her throat slit. I also participated in demonstrations during the Enlightenment Movement.
They asked, “If you are released, will you work with us?” I gave a positive answer and said I would work. They added that I was an educated woman who could work in any ministry. They would provide me with a salary and once I was released, I should go to the salon that launched the movement; I would go there and declare my support for the Taliban government, encourage women to adhere to the Emirate system, and defend them in the media. I said that it’s a good government and our movement would support the Islamic Emirate.
I asked when I would be released. They said they would interrogate me two or three more times. They asked the same repetitive questions about the financial source of the protests and the movement, etc.
A text was given to me the next day at 4 p.m.. It was almost two pages long. They turned the cameras toward me. I was forced to comply with whatever they told me. During forced confession, they shouted at me to not speak for myself and to read the intended text. They hit my shoulder with the butt of a rifle. After 36 days of imprisonment, they said I could see my sister, but that I shouldn’t complain about the Islamic Emirate soldiers. I asked my sister that if they wanted money, she could withdraw it from the bank and give it to the Taliban. She said she had met with UNAMA several times, and they said they had not reached an agreement with the Taliban. They allowed us 10 minutes to talk. My sister had brought two pairs of clothes. After that, I lost all hope. They gave me a piece of bread in the morning, a stew with rice for lunch, and chickpeas at night. I had stomach pain. The room was so freezing that my bones hurt.
On the 40th day, Taliban members told me to gather my belongings because I was being released. They brought me down around 3:30 in the afternoon. A Taliban intelligence officer approached me and asked if I would keep my promise or not. I said yes, I would, and I was afraid they would publish my forced confessions. But he said they wouldn’t. Finally, he said, “Don’t think you’re free from the Taliban prison; you’re under our surveillance.” He asked when I would return, and I said I would come tomorrow.
I didn’t want to leave Afghanistan, but if I stayed, I had to introduce other protesters to the Taliban, who would torture them. That’s why I contacted human rights organizations and asked that they help get me out of Afghanistan.
* Zarifa Yaqoubi, 28, holds a law and political science degree. She was a government employee before the Taliban took power.


