User:Sarahnalbandian/Mursal Nabizada

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Mursal Nabizada (Pashto: مرسل نبی زادہ; c. 1991-2023) was born in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan in 1993. Nabizada was an Afghan politician, lawmaker, Member of the House of the People from Kabul, women's rights activist, and critic of the Taliban. Nabizada was killed in January of 2023 in her home in Kabul by the Taliban.

Early Life
Nabizada was born in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan in 1993 in the neighborhood of Arzaan Qemat of District 12. Nabizada received her bachelor's degree from Balkh University in Northern Afghanistan.

Career
Nabizada was elected to the House of the People, the lower chamber of the National Assembly, to represent Kabul as a Parliamentary Defense Commissioner in the 2018 Afghan parliamentary election. Nabizada received a total of 1,396 votes in the Wolesi Jirga. The inaugural session of the term was held on June 29, 2019. She served in the National Assembly until the |Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021. She was one of the few female members of parliament who stayed in Kabul after the Taliban takeover.

Civilian casualties are high in the region because of the fighting between resistance militias and Taliban forces. Simultaneously, there is a refugee crisis as a result of these conflicts and foreign invasions. This has made investing in medical personnel a talking point for many politicians specifically in women’s care since historically nationwide ban on women has made access to any resources difficult. Most of her work was in Human Resource Development and Research Institute (HURDRI) who have multiple vocational programs that are certified by Nepal. They offer specialty medical services for women including vocational roles like Certified Medical Midwife, Certified Laboratory Assistant, and Auxiliary Nurse Midwife. With her educational consulting expertise HURDRI is able to maintain a 77% pass rate and a 95% job match rate. ANMs are grass-roots workers who generally provide safe and effective medical help to rural communities where uterine infection is highly probable, and maternal mortality is especially high.

She was also an active member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). She attended many conferences such as the one in New York in 2020 hosted by the IPU.

The New York Times reported that in an August 2022 interview with an Afghan satellite television station Arezo TV, she spoke about the corruption and internal conflict  some politicians who would not act in the interests of the Afghan people. Nabasiada said: “They have responsibility for their families, they have to work. Women are in a very bad situation, that is, they are buried alive in the grave.”

In December 2022 the Taliban issued a statute denying women access to participate in public spheres of work such as non-governmental organizations, university matriculation, and were barred from being employed. Nabizada was a strong critic of the gender apartheid in Afghanistan and was an advocate against the forced marriage of women and girls.

Death
At around 3:00 am on January 15, 2023, Nabizada was shot to death on the first floor of her home in Kabul along with one of her personal bodyguards, Ismail. The perpetrator was Malyaar, her second bodyguard. She was 32 at the time of her death. Her brother and a security guard were also injured during this attack. The Taliban targeted former members of the National Resistance Front and opposition figures in Parliament who supported the intervention of the United States in Afghanistan where Mursal Nabizada's and six hundred others were murdered. Within the first year of the Taliban takeover, the Taliban carried out an illegal campaign where they arbitrarily arrested and detained 1,976,914 people.

Before her death, Nabizada was given a humanitarian visa to try and escape Afghanistan, however despite being given the opportunity to leave she did stayed in Afghanistan in protest of the fear tactics carried out by the Taliban. Mariam Solaimankhil stated, "a true trailblazer – a strong, outspoken woman who stood for what she believed in, even in the face of danger. Despite being offered the chance to leave Afghanistan, she chose to stay and fight for her people.” "According to the complainant [filed by the IPU for the violations of human rights], Nabizada had previously expressed concerns to fellow members of parliament living in exile in Afghanistan that she had been repeatedly threatened and harassed by an unidentified senior intelligence official from the Taliban Ministry of Interior Affairs. The official reportedly told her that he intended to coerce her into marriage. Nabizada claimed she refused to give in to those threats of forced marriage." She was an advocate against the forced marriage of women and girls, her work mainly addressed the gender apartheid in Afghanistan.

Four months prior to Nabizada's death in October 2022, the Canadian Parliament worked to help other women seeking asylum out of Afghanistan, specifically nine other women members of Afghanistan's Parliament. The Canadian Parliament proposed a motion to grant transportation and asylum for nine women to evacuate Afghanistan as they faced significant risks as women fighting for justice in Afghanistan against the Taliban. After Nabizada's death, the Canadian Parliament promised to help bring 40,000 Afghan refugees from Afghanistan and grant them asylum Canada by the end of 2023.

Investigation
Police officers Khalid Zadran and Police Chief Molvi Hamidullah Khalid were the officials in charge of the investigation of Nabizada's death. However, Antonio Gutierre a secretary general for the United Nations, made a statement arguing that the Taliban is acting with complete impunity towards women and suggests seeking an independent investigation.

A statement was released by the UK Parliament regarding Nabizada's death stating they, "strongly condemn the actions of their killers." In this statement, the UK Parliament would like to create a plan to help other women escape Afghanistan safely. This statement was signed by a total of 17 UK Parliament members.