Judges from all over the world come together to get 120 threatened magistrates out of Afghanistan

"The day the Taliban entered Kabul, I knew that all my dreams and aspirations had gone.All my achievements of the last 20 years have been in vain ".The one who speaks is an Afghan judge who has had to flee from his country to be able to save his life after the Taliban took power last August.Now Farah (fictional name) is in Spain with his family for several weeks and feels lucky, but there are still many other companions who have not had so much luck and live hidden to know objectives of the reprisals that the radicals plan against themTwo reasons: for being women and having belonged to the institutions of Afghanistan who, for two decades, tried to become a democratic state.

Before the Taliban regained control after the departure of international troops, 270 women exercised as judges in Afghanistan, from the Supreme Court to more local courts.Four months later, they have not only stopped carrying out this work, but since then they have lived persecuted and threatened with death by a regime that prohibits women from any participation in public and political life of the country.Fortuna.

All these women helped build the rule of law in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban in 2001.From its scope, justice contributed to attempts to democratize the country.As Farah explains to Infolibre, "during the last 20 years, Afghanistan has witnessed significant progress in several sectors and in justice he has achieved many achievements", as it was to raise a modern judicial system from scratch to whommore and more judges, lawyers and prosecutors, many of them women.

In the field of advances in the search for equality between men and women, a law of eliminating gender violence was approved and even specialized courts were created in this area, as Farah recalls, who until August exercised in theKabul's First Instance Criminal Court.But, for the Taliban, these women of the judiciary made two serious mistakes in these two decades: they dared to judge men and put the fundamentalists who have now recovered power in jail.

Hidden in your country and past, buried

The alarm jumped in early 2021, when two Afghan magistrates were killed at the gates of the Supreme Court, in Kabul.From there, the contacts between the International Association of Women Judges and its Delegation in Afghanistan intensified before a danger that they already saw closer and closer, according to Glòria Poyatos, magistrate and regional director of the International Association of Women Judges.

The first shot of large cities by the radicals that summer and the capital, later, took the almost 300 judges to hide so as not to run the same fate as their companions.The Taliban know who they are because, after taking Kabul, they entered the supreme and copied the databases with all the information of the active magistrates throughout the country, as did other government institutions.

"I remember well that when the Taliban entered Kabul, I was in the office as usual.Suddenly, one of our colleagues entered and said that the Taliban had entered and released all prisoners.Fear seized me and I felt that death was close, my body trembled with fear and felt that the world had become pure darkness because I knew that all my dreams and aspirations had gone.They had buried them, "recalls Farah when asked about how she felt when she learned the worst news that could happen.

She knew, like all Afghan women, that "he would no longer have the right to education or work" and that would force him to lock himself at home "because the Taliban do not have the slightest respect for the basic rights of women"."All my achievements of the last 20 years disappeared and my life was no longer sure.It was possible that the Talibanos captured and destroy me at any time, so I left the office without losing a minute and I went home.My family and I went right away and we hid in a village, "he says.

The same did many other Afghan judges to flee from the repression that the Taliban already began to apply throughout the country, but especially in Kabul, where they were looking for home to the former members of the Government, the Parliament, the Judiciary, the Judicial Power, theArmy and other institutions.The visible heads of Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021.The women hid under the burkas."Upon entering the big cities, the Taliban made a first registration house by house to arrest government employees, especially judges and military.I knew they would do the same when they arrived in Kabul, so I turned off my phone and hid all the documents that showed that I am a judge, "says Farah.

But the problem is that, as they are not finding them, the Taliban have threaten the family members who find.In some cases, several days and tortured are arrested, as explained by the Association of Women Judges.Meanwhile, the international rescue operation of these women continues.

"The zoom never closes"

It was from August when judges around the world began to mobilize to help their Afghan companions.Poyatos says that they are in contact with all of them telematically, to know that they are well, give them support and also share security measures when they have to move around the country.For example, they advise not having their luggage made, since, if someone sees it, they can interpret it as someone who is fleeing.And, if they can change from home every so often."The zoom never closes.When we sleep in Europe, Australia's members are in contact, and vice versa ".

The ultimate goal is to get them out of the country with their closest family.Always legally, land or air.To do this, from the International Association, these months have been in touch with governments, NGOs and other international organizations to facilitate displacement within Afghanistan and then the departure.

The disorganization of the Taliban has played in their favor in some cases, because they take advantage of those moments of confusion to include them in a flight organized by some NGO or pass the border with Pakistan when the controls relax.But that disorder also implies that there are times when fundamentalists are given to make exhaustive checks that prevent the trip.The problem is that you can never anticipate what is going to happen: there are days when Talibanes think of asking for a passport to everyone;Others, judges simply go unnoticed.

Transit countries

Pakistan is usually the first most common destination for these women and their families and the International Association of Women Judges continues to make arrangements with governments of other countries to pave the bureaucratic path and prevent months from there until a place of reception.Greece and Abu Dabi have been two other states that were offered as transit countries where they can stay while the efforts are made to define a final destination to save the life of these magistrates.In Greece, for example, there are still 40 Afghan judges waiting, explains poyates to this newspaper.

When he hid after leaving Kabul, Farah contacted Susan Glazebrook, president of the International Women's Association Judges, and asked for help."I was evacuated from Afghanistan and arrived in Pakistan with the help of the association and, in particular, of Susan Glazebrok.After spending two months in Pakistan, I came to Spain with the support of the Association of Women Judges Spain, especially thanks to Glòria Poyatos.I have to thank these two brave and heroic women, from the bottom of my heart, and also to all those who have helped me during this time, I will never forget their kindness ".

Farah and another Afghan companion already live in Spain, one in Madrid and the other in Barcelona.But the Association of Women Judges Spain wants to help more companions and that is why it continues to contact the Government of Pedro Sánchez to facilitate the bureaucratic path to the judges who have already managed to escape and wait in transit countries.

His concern, now, is for the life of the companions who are still in Afghanistan "because it is possible that the Taliban go for them at any time".And not only the fundamentalists who now take power, but also "the criminals who were imprisoned by them and seek revenge".Therefore, expect them to be evacuated as soon as possible.

The situation in which their country has remained and the speed with which the Taliban recovered control, in just a few weeks, without finding hardly resistance in any city and with international troops out of there run over, make Farah reflect on the responsibility of statesUnited and the European Union."I wonder why they have left Afghanistan alone.Maybe the story answers that question.But I think the international community has made a wrong decision because the Taliban are a very extremist group that is dangerous for the entire world.I hope they think carefully what they have done and support the Afghan people and do not allow the Taliban to achieve their sinister objectives ".