Solidarity Demonstrations Held in at Least 14 Cities Worldwide for Herat Protests

Protests that began last week in Herat's Jibraeel town were suppressed twice by the Taliban, accompanied by a wave of arrests of women. The events prompted solidarity demonstrations in at least 14 cities across multiple countries.

Gatherings took place in Tehran and Mashhad in Iran, as well as in Hamburg, Berlin, Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Paris, Madrid, Helsinki, Vienna, Uppsala, Brussels and multiple cities in Canada including Vancouver. Germany recorded the largest number of participants, where demonstrators called for severing diplomatic relations with the Taliban.

Iranian officials requested that Afghan migrants in Tehran and Mashhad refrain from holding protest gatherings. In Paris on 23 Jawza, protesters gathered in front of the European Parliament in Brussels and in Canadian cities to urge international action against Taliban policies, including the criminalization of gender apartheid.

Participants across the locations demanded an end to the suppression of women, their arrests and the restrictions imposed on them. They also called for severed ties with the Taliban and non-recognition of the group.