Group pleads for governments to help free ‘tortured’ Afghan women

LGBTQ+ immigration charities are pleading for international governments to help free two jailed Afghan women before they are imprisoned or executed.

Maryam Ravish, 19, and Maeve Alcina Pieescu, 23, were arrested and detained by Taliban authorities in Afghanistan after attempting to flee to Iran in March.

After attempting to board a Kabul International Airport flight alongside 20-year-old Parwen Hussaini, the partner of Maryam, reportedly to escape persecution, the pair were detained at a VIP terminal where authorities reportedly found evidence of LGBTQ+ content on their personal devices.

PinkNews has heard that Maryam and Maeve are still in custody and are being “tortured daily” as an investigation remains ongoing.

Nemat Sadat, CEO of LGBTQ+ Afghan protection nonprofit, Roshaniya, urged governments and human rights groups across the world to help free the pair, who have reportedly been charged with homosexuality and apostasy [rejecting Islam] crimes.

“These charges could result in many years of imprisonment, amputation of a limb, or even execution,” Sadat says. “We appeal to governments and international human rights groups to put pressure on the Taliban to release and deport them.”

According to the community-based equality index Equaldex, Afghanistan is the second-worst place for LGBTQ+ people in the world. Homosexuality in the country is punishable by a “long-term prison sentence” or, under the Sharia law, death.

Maeve is allegedly at a “high risk” of receiving the death penalty after she rejected Islam while under interrogation and torture. Sadat says that the Taliban have allegedly shaved her head and forced her facial hair to grow to “conform” to the “patriarchal gender norms” of the country.

She is also reportedly being forced to read and recite the Holy Quran on a daily basis for “long periods.”

Maryam’s current location is unknown, though Roshaniya has said she is likely detained at the women’s wing of the Pul e-Charkhi prison, though it says this is “unconfirmed.” Both women are expected to face trial and sentencing soon.

Parwen, who made it on the flight to Iran, is reportedly at risk of being deported back to Afghanistan in June after her visa expires. She risks facing the death penalty if she is sent back.

“I am trapped in Iran,” she says. “I don’t know what to do when the visa runs out. I’m desperate. I fear that I may be rounded up and deported back to Afghanistan when my visa expires.”

Parwen further appealed for governments to pressure the Taliban into freeing Maeve and Maryam, saying she would be “heartbroken, desolate, and despairing” if anything where to happen to them.

Maeve’s sister, Susan Battaglia, who lives in Michigan, says she is “desperate” for governments and humanitarian groups to help free the pair.

“Maeve’s life is in serious danger. The Taliban are accusing Maeve with human trafficking, being trans and gay and apostasy,” she added. “If people don’t help soon, I fear she is going to be executed.”