Herat women’s prison chief missing for 6 months: HRW

KABUL (Pajhwok): Human Rights Watch (HRW) has voiced its concern about the women’s prison director for western Herat province, saying she has been missing since October 2021.

Alia Azizi, who worked under the former government but returned to her office after the Taliban takeover, is feared to have been forcibly disappeared, the rights watchdog said on Wednesday.

In a statement, the group asked the Taliban to credibly investigate her enforced disappearance and release her from custody or make her whereabouts known.

Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at HRW, said: “It’s been over six months since Alia Azizi went missing, and the Taliban have yet to carry out a credible investigation.

“International law obligates the authorities to investigate apparent forced disappearances, prosecute those responsible for violations and inform the person’s family of their whereabouts.”

Azizi had served as a police officer for 17 years and as the women’s prison director in Herat since 2019, according to the statement.

After the Taliban gained control of Herat on August 12, 2021, she stopped working and stayed home for two weeks. But then the new Taliban head of Herat’s central prison called her and asked her to resume working.

A contact quoted the Taliban official as telling her: “As there are women prisoners, we need you to come back to work.”

pr/mud