Exile gives you security, but it doesn’t give you peace. Samira Hamidi, defender of Human Rights and responsible for campaigns on Afghanistan in Amnesty International, says so directly and indirectly at various times of the interview with this newspaper. The last time he set foot in his country was in 2021 and has not been able to return for security reasons, but from London he works so that the international community does not legitimize the Taliban, protect the dissent and fight so that the rights of the Afghan do not continue to be trampled. That was the message that has also transferred to the Spanish authorities this week in Madrid.
“The non -international response, abandonment, is an immense disappointment. In the world there is a legitimizing silence of the Taliban regime,” he emphasizes.
Born in Kabul, 46 years ago, this activist has worked for the European Union, the UN Development Program (UNDP), UN Women and Embassies from several European countries, always focused on human rights, especially those of women.
“Four years ago, the Taliban believed they would find the same women who left after their first government, between 1996 and 2001, when we were deprived of education and political rights, when we were invisible and vulnerable. But soon they saw no,” he says.
Ask. How do you work in Afghanistan from exile?
Answer. It has been accepting me for a long time that we lost everything that we had worked so hard in these years. There are days when I wake up and I still can’t believe that my country’s girls can no longer go to college. We ran many risks and work tirelessly so that Afghanistan was a good place for women. But it could not be. Personally, I miss the jaleo from the streets of Kabul, pollution, noise … Everything. I have a good and safe life in London, but I don’t feel peace. It only reassures me to work as a machine in Amnesty International. Because? Because it is an important interlocutor and I think I can collaborate to improve the situation of my country, especially that of women.
P. Is it part of the message that has transmitted to the Spanish authorities?
R. I wanted to highlight before those responsible with which I have met the need to establish an accountability mechanism so that the Taliban respond to justice. I have also asked them to maintain and increase their support for Afghan women. Those who are here and those that have been waiting for a visa to come to Spain for some time. I know they are long processes, but it would be very positive if they can be accelerated.
There are days when I wake up and I still can’t believe that my country’s girls can no longer go to college. We ran many risks and work tirelessly so that Afghanistan was a good place for women.
P. What are the women who are still in Afghanistan?
R. For 20 years we educate ourselves, fully joined the work world, we traveled, we were part of society and contributed a lot to that society. It was a awakening to our rights. The Taliban believed they would find the same women who left after their first government between 1996 and 2001, when we were deprived of education and political rights, when we were invisible and vulnerable. But they saw no. They realized that there was more resistance and especially a united voice of women, inside and outside Afghanistan. Women who have stayed and continue working for the country from within challenge the Taliban every day. His single presence is already a way of resisting. They are the true brave, they know the risks that run and find a thousand tactics to move forward.
P. Can you quote the case of an activist who has impacted him especially?
R. In Afghanistan there are not many men who publicly defend the right of girls and young people to study. That is why I would like to remember one of them, Matiullah Wesa, who was arrested in 2023 and imprisoned for seven months. His house was raided and part of his family, especially his mother, humiliated. It hurt a lot. He is a very brave activist, who until today continues in the country.
P. Do you feel a silence or normalization of the Taliban by the international community?
R. No international response and abandonment are immense disappointment. In the world there is a legitimizing silence of the Taliban regime. But we continue to publish data and reports and pressure governments, the UN and other international interlocutors. Amnesty International has 10 million members and the commitment and mobilization of these people is our great power. For example, in January, the International Criminal Court Prosecutor’s Office (ICC) requested that arrest orders against Supreme Leader Taliban, Haibatullah Akhundada, and another high responsible for the fundamentalists, for their alleged responsibility in the crime of humanity that is the gender persecution in Afghanistan. These good news does not happen automatically, there is a lot of work, a lot of activism and a lot of pressure behind.
Women who have stayed and continue working for the country from within challenge the Taliban every day. His single presence is already a way of resist
P. What presence does Amnesty International have in Afghanistan and how do you make your reports denouncing the abuses committed in the country?
R. Unfortunately, we do not have people from our organization in the field, due to the extreme risks involved in working on the defense of human rights in Afghanistan. Our reports are made thanks to contacts with protesters, journalists, women and activists who follow in the country and with whom we find safe channels to communicate. We have to be very careful because we cannot protect them and Amnesty International is a well -known organization and not especially appreciated by the Taliban. We also do many interviews with groups in exile and with evacuated people and have, depending on the subject, with other media such as satellite images to gather the necessary information.
P. When was the last time they could send researchers to Afghanistan?
R. I left Afghanistan in 2018, when I joined Amnesty International, although I often traveling for work. I have not returned since 2021 for security reasons. In 2022, there were two researchers from the organization, who were not Afghan and who could go to Afghanistan to work in two reports: one about the situation of women and another about deportations and the situation at the borders. Since then we have published several reports and I do not believe that the Taliban now authorized our presence.
P. The Taliban have published more than a hundred edicts, many of them are finally invisible to women. Is there any that has hurt or surprised especially?
R. The prohibition that women are formal to work in the health sector. We will not have more doctors, nurses or midwives. Who will take care of women? Afghanistan is a very traditional country and in some parts a male doctor cannot examine a patient. What will happen in these areas of the country when a woman gives birth or has a serious health problem?
We will not have more doctors, nurses or midwives. Who will take care of women?
P. Reports have also been made about the worrying increase in children’s marriages.
R. That is another drama. Forced marriages continued to register in some parts of the country before the Taliban returned, but they were reducing because for the first time we had a law that protected women and criminalized these practices. There was also a specific court for this type of abuse and even shelters to protect women and girls. The advances were huge. I remember a few years ago that I visited a lost rural area in the Bamiyán region and there a group of farmers without studies told me that they had sent their daughters to study the city because they did not want them to stay in the town and marry young people. The mentality was changing.
P. These days we also attend an increase in Afghan deportations from Pakistan, which, according to the UN, in April reached 30,000.
R. These forced repatriations violate the principle of non -return, that is, the right of a person not to be returned to a country in which the risk of serious violations of their most basic rights is run. This is what happens in the case of refugees and applicants for Afghan asylum in Pakistan, especially women, who fled to save their lives. That is why we strongly ask the Pakistani authorities to respect this right.
