Amnesty International asked the ICC to investigate the Taliban regime for crimes against humanity against women and girls

Amnesty International called on the ICC to investigate the Taliban regime for crimes against humanity against women and girls. (Reuters)

The restrictions imposed by the Taliban on the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, as well as imprisonment, enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment, constitute crimes against humanity that must be prosecuted under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as determined by the NGO Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists in their most recent report entitled: “The Taliban’s war on women. The crime against humanity of gender persecution in Afghanistan” (The Taliban’s war against women. The crime against humanity of gender persecution in Afghanistan).

In its analysis, which covers events between August 2021 and January 2023, Amnesty International assures that the Taliban have marginalized women from political and working life since they took control in August 2021, preventing them from holding public office. In addition, they have eliminated secondary and higher education for women and girls, denying them access to university and limiting their career options.

Amnesty International says that the Taliban have marginalized women from political and working life since they took control in August 2021, preventing them from holding public office. (AP)

“The restrictions against women are clearly designed to target them specifically. Their rights have been violated and they have been excluded from participation in society. Afghan women and girls are forced to live as second-class citizens, silenced and made invisible,” said the general secretary of the NGO, Agnès Callamard.

“There is no doubt that this is a war against women: they deprive them of public life; prevent them from accessing education; they are prohibited from working; they disable them to circulate freely; They are imprisoned, tortured, and forced to disappear, including for speaking out against these policies and resisting repression,” she added.

“The restrictions against women are clearly designed to target them specifically. Their rights have been violated and they have been excluded from participation in society. Afghan women and girls are forced to live as second-class citizens, silenced and made invisible,” said the general secretary of the NGO, Agnès Callamard. (Reuters)

According to Callamard, “the seriousness” of the crimes requires a “much more energetic international response than has been observed to date. “There is only one admissible outcome: this system of oppression and persecution based on gender must be dismantled.”

Both Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists pointed out that the Taliban carry out these acts “through the security apparatus of the previous government”, as well as with the “involvement” of the Afghan Police and security forces”.

The general secretary of the Jurists, Santiago Cantón, affirmed that the policies of the ‘de facto’ authorities in Afghanistan are a “system of repression that aspires to subjugate and marginalize women and girls throughout the country”.

The Taliban have eliminated secondary and higher education for women and girls, denying them access to university and limiting their career options. (AP)

“Holding the Taliban to criminal account and addressing rampant impunity for the grave crimes documented in this report is a necessary step to ensure justice for those who survive their heinous practices,” Cantón stressed.

In the report, both organizations urge the Taliban to take immediate steps to guarantee women’s rights to work, free movement, political participation and other human rights that are currently being violated.

The Secretary General of the International Commission of Jurists, Santiago Cantón, affirmed that the policies of the ‘de facto’ authorities in Afghanistan are a “system of repression that aims to subjugate and marginalize women and girls throughout the country”.

They also call on the international community to use universal jurisdiction or other legal mechanisms to try the Taliban for their crimes.

For both NGOs, “the systematic oppression of women and girls in Afghanistan has not stopped increasing since the Taliban took power as de facto authorities.” The most recent restrictions include: prohibition to work with the UN offices and the limitation of entering parks and gyms.

“These recent practices, along with other discriminatory policies examined in this report, stand in stark contrast to statements by the Taliban in August 2021, immediately after taking power in the country. At that time, they reiterated the commitment they made during the peace negotiations to protect and guarantee the rights of women,” the report states.

“Despite these promises, the Taliban have systematically violated women’s rights, quickly erasing the substantial gains in rights protection that had been accumulated over the last 20 years,” it adds.

(With information from Europa Press)

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