Ahmadi was born 26 March 1957 in
Kabul, Afghanistan. Her medical education at
Kabul University was interrupted by the Soviet invasion of Kabul during the
Soviet–Afghan War. Ahmadi a leading member of the Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). She was accused of distributing "anti-Soviet" resistance literature and was arrested in 1981. At the time of her arrest she was a fourth year medical student. She witnessed the torture of other political prisoners. After her release, Ahmadi participated in the
Permanent Peoples' Tribunal session "Afghanistan Il" on 16 December 1982 in
Paris, France. She also spoke about her treatment at a conference in
New York, USA. She provided the names of the individuals responsible for her torture. For her women's rights and pro-democracy campaigning, Ahmadi was also arrested in
Quetta,
Balochistan, Pakistan, and was imprisoned in Pakistan in 1989.
Amnesty International worked for her release from prison. Ahmadi fled to Norway as a
refugee in 1991, firstly to a refugee reception centre in
Haugesund, then later to
Oslo where she permanently settled. She studied a masters degree in
social anthropology at the
University of Oslo. In 2008, Ahmadi published the book
Silent Screams, which describes the experiences of immigrant women. and it has been turned into a physical theatre production by Norwegian and Japanese artists. Ahmadi published
From War to Peace: Our Global Responsibility! in 2024 and gave a talk about her writing at the
London Book Fair in 2025. == References ==