The mounting human rights violations committed by the Taliban in Afghanistan against women and children are deeply alarming. Despite the pledges by the Taliban “regime” to respect women’s rights, it has been reported that the Taliban is enforcing harsh rules on the ground against women and girls, as well as young boys recruited into its ranks, depriving them of their basic human freedoms. PGA therefore urgently calls on the Taliban leadership to respect the fundamental rights of the Afghan people and to uphold its obligations under international law.
Hon. Mariam Solaimankhail, MP (Afghanistan, Member of PGA) alerted already in April 2021 on the importance of ensuring that the rights of girls and women are respected by the Taliban given their breaches on the ground:
Today, we have women ambassadors, ministers, deputy ministers. Millions of women are getting educated in the villages. But in the areas where the Taliban have been operational, they were destroying girls’ school, so that girls would not have access to education.
As such, she is urging the international community to act:
I am very concerned for the safety of human rights defenders, journalists, women, children, members of parliament, and all individuals who actively worked toward achieving democracy and the rule of Law in my country. I call on the international community to support the Afghan people and respect their right to seek asylum and to non-refoulement. I also ask that all countries committed to justice and peace publicly condemn all human rights violations and atrocities committed against my people.
The future government of Afghanistan must uphold international commitments made in the last 20 years to ensure that all Afghan people live in a safe, equitable and peaceful society. PGA recalls that all domestic rules and policies, including those under Islamic Law, must be in accordance with international law and the treaties, including human rights treaties, to which Afghanistan is a State Party. As such, women must be included in the decision-making processes as members of the Parliament and the Government.
Any government must therefore continue to respect, inter alia, the:
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (ratified in 2003) under which the Afghan government must condemn all discrimination against women, respect the equality between men and women, and establish legal protections that will ensure the full realization of the rights of women and girls, including their right to physical integrity, their dignity, to access education and to have equal employment opportunities. The global membership of PGA is deeply concerned by reports informing that human rights advancements made by women and girls and enshrined in the Afghan Constitution, domestic laws and international treaties, are in jeopardy.
Afghanistan is a State Party to various important international human rights treaties, and it is of primary importance for the future government to respect its international obligations, starting with the fundamental rights and freedoms of women and children, as well as providing protection from all forms of violence targeting this vulnerable group, and this includes the right to freedom of religion for the minorities in Afghanistan. Concrete measures must be taken to ensure the equal participation of women in political life and decision-making, to guarantee their full access to education and economic sustainability and to suppress all domestic laws and policies that discriminate women and girls. I call on the international community to continue to provide financial support and assistance to uphold the progress made to empower Afghan women and girls and minorities. In the same breath, I call on world leaders to take heed of the potential revival and resurrection of extremist and radical insurgent movements all over the world, including in South East Asia in view of the Taliban’s entry into the now Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The time is ripe to go back to the drawing board to ensure that no one would be left behind in a free, just and democratic world. Hon. Kasthuri Patto, MP (Malaysia), PGA Board member
- Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ratified in 2003) which strictly prohibits the perpetration of the most serious human rights violations, including sexual slavery, forced marriage, rape, mutilation, torture, and other ill treatments. As a State Party to the Rome Statute, the future government must investigate and prosecute all those responsible for allegedly committing crimes against humanity and war crimes on its territory. In addition, a future government must continue to support the ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court, to take all measure to address accountability for atrocity crimes committed by government forces, the Taliban, the US-led forces and other armed factions.
- Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (ratified in 2003) which provides that States Parties must ensure that no member in their armed forces is under the age of 18 years old. PGA has been appalled by the use of child soldiers in Afghanistan by the Afghan Security forces and by the Taliban and recalls that under international law, the recruitment of children to take part in hostilities is strictly prohibited and should be condemned before national jurisdictions.
- The entire body of customary International Humanitarian Law is binding on the de facto government of Afghanistan as well as on all parties involved in the Afghan armed conflict.
Background
Between 1996 and 2001, Afghanistan was under the regime of the Taliban which was marked by an extremist and fundamentalist application of the Islamic law which is discriminatory to women and girls, violating their rights and preventing them from accessing education or work opportunities. The Taliban regime was also known for targeting human rights defenders and journalists. In 2001, following the 9/11 armed attacks on the United States attributed to the responsibility of al-Qaeda and originated from the territories of Afghanistan, the Taliban were driven out of power by the armed intervention of the United States, which coordinated their military operations with the Afghan’s Northern Alliance that controlled the north of the country. In 2004, a first government was democratically elected.
In February 2020, a peace agreement was signed between the Taliban and the United States ahead of a proposed withdrawal of their troops and those of their allies. Following this agreement, 5,000 Taliban prisoners were released and on 1 May 2021, the armed troops of the United States and its allies officially started to withdraw from the country. Since then, the Taliban have increasingly taken control of the country, allegedly committing atrocities and serious human rights violations, especially against women and children. They seized the capital, Kabul, on 15 August 2021 and are now requesting the current government a full transfer of executive power.