Activist Ferozan Safi was shot dead in northern Afghanistan, marking the first incident of violence against a women's rights defender since the Taliban came to power in August. Ferozan, aged 29, was identified in a morgue in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif after being missing since October 20. Rita, Ferozan's sister and a doctor, told the British newspaper "The Guardian": "We recognized her by her clothes, after the bullets tore her face apart." Rita added, "There were gunshot wounds everywhere, in her head, chest, kidney, and legs—so numerous it’s hard to count," noting that her engagement ring and bag had been taken.
Rita continued, "Toward the end of last month, Ferozan received a phone call from an unknown number asking her for proof of her work as a human rights defender and to go to a safe house." She remarked, "This made sense to her; Ferozan thought her asylum application in Germany was being processed, so she put some documents, including her university degree, in her bag, threw a black and white scarf over her head, and left home, only to meet her fate. We do not know who killed her."
The sisters' father, Abdul Rahman Safi (66), stated that Ferozan's body was found in a ditch not far from the city, registered as an unidentified corpse by hospital workers. Zahra, a women's rights activist in Afghanistan who uses a pseudonym for security reasons, said she was with Ferozan at the latest protest in Mazar-i-Sharif against Taliban rule.
The deaths underscore the prevailing sense of fear in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, where a series of retaliatory killings of individuals linked to the previous government has fostered an atmosphere of impunity and confusion. Since mid-August, women have organized nationwide protests against the Taliban, demanding the restoration and protection of their rights. On Thursday, Human Rights Watch stated that "Taliban rules prohibit most women from working as relief workers in the country."
