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Along with their 6-month-old baby sister, the girls are oblivious to the threat they now face from the Taliban, the new rulers of Afghanistan.
Their mother, Nabila, is one of 250 female judges sentenced not to return to work by a regime that does not tolerate women in positions of responsibility. CNN only uses Nabila’s first name for its own protection.
Nabila said she feared reprisals, not only from fundamentalists, but also from the men she once imprisoned. When they came to power, the Taliban opened the doors to prisons, freeing thousands of convicted felons.
“Now we don’t feel safe; the same criminals are attacking my own life, my family’s life,” Nabila said. “God forbid if they seek revenge.”
After the Taliban took power in mid-August, a few dozen female judges fled Afghanistan, and those who remain are now in hiding, according to judge Vanessa Ruiz of the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) based in Afghanistan. United States.
All the judges who worked under the former Afghan government – men and women – have now been replaced by people appointed by the Taliban, two judges told CNN.
But Ruiz said female judges fear their gender will make them particular targets for a regime that places greater value on men.
Many women judges have presided over the worst cases of violence against women, including rape, murder and domestic violence.
“They would be angry with any judge who convicted them, but for a woman to have official authority and judge a man is a whole different kind of rage,” Ruiz said.
IAWJ and other organizations are racing to find safe passage for women – but say they need more help from the United States and other Western countries, before it is too late.
“They can’t see their mother getting killed”
The risks for Afghan women judges predate the Taliban takeover of the country.
Since then, threats against Afghan women – and those affiliated with the former government – have intensified.
Last week, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michèle Bachelet told the Human Rights Council that her office had heard “multiple allegations” that the Taliban had portrayed door to door looking for government officials and people who have cooperated with the United States.
In addition, she said women had been “gradually excluded from the public sphere” and faced increasing restrictions in “many professional sectors”.
Nabila said she was quick to receive death threats.
“A day or two after the Taliban arrived in Kabul, my personal number was called and I was threatened with revenge, threatened with murder,” Nabila said.
She has canceled her phone numbers and the family now move from house to house every few days to avoid being found.
Another judge, Bibi, has been in hiding with her three young children since the Taliban entered Kabul.
“My worst fear is that my children (…) will not see their mother being killed,” said Bibi, who only uses her first name for security reasons.
“We didn’t sleep well, we didn’t eat well. We’re just waiting, we’ve stopped living like a normal human being.”
Bibi had to leave her workplace in a hurry as Kabul fell and was unable to return to her office, which contains all of her working files and personal information, including her photo, phone number and address personal.
She fears that the Taliban – or former prisoners – will use this information to find them.
“They feel like it’s their right to find me, to hit me, to kill me, they have no one to fear,” she said.
Nabila and Bibi and their families are trying to leave Afghanistan with the help of organizations including the IAWJ, but progress is slow.
Ruiz said they were doing all they could, but their resources were limited, and she urged Western countries to do more.
“Governments need to be better, more agile, more generous frankly, admitting the people who are in danger in Afghanistan right now,” Ruiz said. “You have to cut red tape when you face an emergency, and we deal with an emergency.”
Ruiz said the United States in particular should try to help these women, as several dozen judges have completed a U.S. government-funded judicial education program. “It is their association with us, in many ways, that puts them at risk,” Ruiz said.
The United States says it continued to evacuate Americans, Afghans and other nationals from Kabul, even after the August 31 deadline. Two evacuation flights have left Kabul in the past two weeks, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said at a hearing with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.
“We will continue to help Americans – and Afghans to whom we have a special commitment – to leave Afghanistan if they wish, as we have done in other countries where we have evacuated our embassy,” he said. Blinken said. “There is no deadline for this assignment.”
“The Taliban chased me”
Only a few dozen female judges have managed to escape Afghanistan so far.
An experienced judge escaped on a flight between Kabul and Poland with members of his family, including eight nieces and nephews.
But it was not an easy trip.
“I was at the airport gate for two nights with too many people, and I had a lot of children with me,” said the judge, who did not wish to be appointed to protect members of his. family still in Afghanistan.
“The three days and two nights I spent at Kabul airport were truly the worst nights of my life, but we made it. I had no (other) hope of survival.”
She knew she had to flee the country after the Taliban tried to find her.
“Five Taliban came to my area to ask my neighbors questions about me,” she said. “When I heard that the Taliban were chasing me, I also moved from that area, because I was so afraid they would find me.”
In addition to fearing for their families, women also mourn their hard-earned careers.
“Now I feel like I’ve lost everything,” said the senior judge. “Imagine you have a personality, a career, a respect, a house, a car, a life and everything, and all of a sudden you walk away with just one set of clothes on your body and leave the country – now how would you feel? -you ? “
“We are not going to abandon them”
For those stranded in Afghanistan, frustration and fear increase.
“We who are left behind are all expressing our anger, our disappointment,” Bibi said.
“We have (been) deprived of our right to work,” said Nabila. “We find it impossible for us to live in Afghanistan.
Ruiz of the IAWJ said they won’t give up until all female judges are safe.
“We are not going to give up on them. We are not going to forget them. And we are not going to let the world ignore them,” Ruiz said.
“We will not stop until this work is finished, and every woman judge who is threatened and wishes to leave Afghanistan can do so.”
Despite the dangers, Nabila is dedicated to the career path she has chosen and hopes to one day return to the bench.
“I do not regret at all the field that I have chosen and for which I have studied for many years,” said Nabila.
“We have been working for many years to combat violence, oppression and injustice, and I want to continue my work.”
Nabila’s bravery is driven by a passion to protect the most vulnerable Afghan women and to try to create a better future for her daughters, a generation now facing a grim reality under the new regime.
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