The systemic oppression against Afghan women and girls amounts to crimes against humanity – UN Human Rights Council

Geneva

The systemic oppression against Afghan women and girls is “so severe and extensive that they appear to form a widespread and systematic attack” which could amount to crimes against humanity said Richard Bennett, the independent rights expert monitoring Afghanistan, addressing the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday.

The de facto authorities in Afghanistan, the Taliban, swept back into power in August 2021 and swiftly began curtailing women’s rights, including imposing stricter dress codes, banning higher education for girls, excluding women from the job market, and restricting freedom of movement in public spaces.

This repression is bolstered by the Taliban’s use of violence, mainly through murder, enforced disappearance, torture, rape and other inhumane acts, according to the UN expert’s latest report.

“The Taliban’s institutionalization of its system of oppression of women and girls, and the harms that it is continuing to entrench, should shock the conscience of humanity,” said Mr. Bennett.

Systemic ‘gender apartheid’

Since the Taliban takeover, a series of verbal and written decrees have effectively eliminated the fundamental freedoms of Afghan women and girls, with violence being used to enforce their edicts.

According to the report, the systematized oppression will disempower Afghan women across generations, ingraining their inferior socioeconomic status and State-enforced dependence on men.

Mr. Bennett is firmly of the viewpoint that “gender apartheid” most fully encapsulates this ongoing injustice, given its institutionalized and ideological nature.

The Human Rights Council-appointed expert is recommending Member States recognize the concept of gender apartheid and propel its codification. He believes doing so will effectively address the unmatched human rights crisis confronting Afghan women.

‘All tools’ approach needed

The UN expert is calling on the Taliban to take immediate steps to restore the fundamental rights of women and girls. He is also pushing for an “all tools” approach to dismantle the Taliban’s institutionalized system of gender oppression and to hold those responsible to account.

This would involve international accountability mechanisms including the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). It would also include pursuing cases at the national level.

Mr. Bennett opposes any legitimization of the Taliban leadership until concrete, measurable, and verified improvements on human rights take place.

“Afghans, in particular Afghan women and girls, have shown tremendous bravery and determination in the face of Taliban oppression. The international community must match this with protection and solidarity, including decisive and principled action, which places human rights front and center,” the UN expert said.

Now unemployed, a woman sits at home with her two daughters.

Cut in salaries of women  

Earlier, another UN report said that the Taliban authorities have told women civil servants prohibited from working that despite qualifications or experience, their salaries will now be cut to the lowest level.

It has been almost three years since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan and women’s rights continue to be under attack.

UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) spokesperson Liz Throssell revealed that in its latest act of disempowerment, de facto authorities have told women civil servants prohibited from working that despite qualifications or experience, their salaries will now be cut to the lowest level.

The Taliban overtook Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, in August 2021, and quickly began eroding women’s rights, including strict dress codes, banning higher education for girls, excluding women from certain jobs, and more.

According to Ms. Throssell, authorities had told women they could return to work when “the necessary conditions” are in place, yet women have not received any information on when that might be.

Three years on, steps to allow women civil servants to all return to the workplace have not been taken.

“This latest discriminatory and profoundly arbitrary decision further deepens the erosion of human rights in Afghanistan, following decisions to restrict women and girls’ access to education and employment, limit their freedom of movement, and curtail their presence in public spaces, effectively entrenching the exclusion of women from public life,” Ms. Throssell said.

‘Three billion learning hours lost’

Thursday also marks 1,000 days since the Taliban banned education for girls beyond the sixth grade – a “sad and sobering milestone” according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Executive Director Catherine Russell said “For 1.5 million girls, this systematic exclusion is not only a blatant violation of their right to education, but also results in dwindling opportunities and deteriorating mental health” in a public statement.

Ms. Russell said that education not only provides opportunities but it “protects girls from early marriage, malnutrition and other health problems, and bolsters their resilience to disasters like the floods, drought, and earthquakes that frequently plague Afghanistan.”

UN Women recently reported that this ban on education is related to a 25 per cent increase in child marriage rates and a 45 per cent increase in early childbearing rates.

The UNICEF chief said the agency is working extensively to support all children in Afghanistan.

End rights violations

As human rights continue to be violated in Afghanistan, independent rights experts are calling on the Taliban to provide medical aid for United States national Ryan Corbett who is being held in detention.

Mr. Corbett was detained in 2022 when he travelled to Afghanistan to do humanitarian work and has been held captive since.

His mental and physical health has severely declined and Alice Jill Edwards, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel treatment, said he must be given medical treatment “in a civilian hospital without delay”.

She said conditions in detention were “utterly inadequate and substantially below international standards.”

Special Rapporteurs and other UN Human Rights Council-appointed rights experts are independent of any government, receive no salary for their work and serve in their individual capacity.

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Published under International Cooperation with "Sindh Courier"