Human Rights Watch Report Exposes Taliban’s Gender Persecution in Afghanistan
Taliban authorities in Afghanistan are facing serious allegations of committing gender persecution against women and girls, according to a report released by Human Rights Watch. Since assuming control of the country in August 2021, the Taliban has implemented laws and policies that aim to deny women and girls their fundamental rights based on their gender.
Human Rights Watch has labeled the Taliban’s actions as a cruel and systematic denial of women and girls’ basic rights, with the intention of removing them from public life. Elizabeth Evenson, the international justice director at Human Rights Watch, emphasized the need for coordinated support from concerned governments to hold the responsible Taliban leaders accountable for their actions.
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) defines crimes against humanity as a range of prohibited acts committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population, with knowledge of the attack. In this case, gender persecution refers to the intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights based on sex characteristics or gender identity, which is considered impermissible under international law.
Human Rights Watch’s research on Afghanistan since 2021 has uncovered various decrees that have imposed the crime against humanity of persecution targeting women and girls. These decrees have resulted in severe restrictions on freedom of movement, expression, and association. They have also led to prohibitions on employment, bans on secondary and higher education, and arbitrary arrests that violate the right to liberty.
To address these grave violations, Human Rights Watch urged the Taliban authorities to dismantle all forms of repression and discrimination that infringe upon the fundamental rights of women and girls. Afghanistan, as a party to the Rome Statute, is under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. In October 2022, the court authorized the ICC prosecutor to resume its investigation into the situation in Afghanistan, including the crime against humanity of gender persecution.
Elizabeth Evenson emphasized the importance of the International Criminal Court’s investigation as a potential pathway toward accountability for these crimes. Governments are urged to provide the necessary resources and cooperation to support the investigation and ensure that the prosecutor can explore this crime alongside other human rights abuses.
As the international community monitors the situation in Afghanistan closely, it is crucial to highlight the severity of gender persecution inflicted upon Afghan women and girls. Efforts to bring justice and halt the violation of fundamental rights should be a priority, as the world witnesses the devastating consequences of these actions.
