A group of Afghan citizens residing in Darmstadt, Germany, held an anti-Taliban protest on August 14, raising their voices against four years of Taliban rule. Participants, carrying bold slogans against the group, called on the international community to break its silence in the face of “Taliban’s oppression, repression, and systematic crimes.”
Protesters stressed that the Taliban have not only completely stripped Afghan women and girls of their rights, but have also destroyed freedom of expression, media freedom, and the right to education, turning the country into a vast prison. Pointing to the mass wave of forced migration and the dire humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, they accused Western countries and the United Nations of “inaction and indifference.”
One of the organizers said: “For four years, Afghan women have been deprived of schools and universities, civil activists and journalists have been imprisoned or forced to flee, and the country’s economy has collapsed. The world’s silence in the face of these tragedies is a form of complicity with the Taliban.”
The protesters also demanded the creation of an international mechanism to prosecute the Taliban and their supporters, emphasizing that international aid should not be provided to the group without guarantees for the protection of human rights.
The demonstration took place amid warnings from many political figures that continued indifference from global powers will embolden the Taliban to consolidate their power further and make the Afghan people’s struggle for freedom and justice even more difficult.
