Forbidden to go to a gym. Forbidden to work in any international organization. Forbidden to travel without male consent. Forbidden to study at the university…
The Taliban, since returning to power in Afghanistan in August 2022, have waged a crusade against Afghan women, relying on Islamic ‘sharia’ law to justify their restrictive measures.
A month after coming to power they said they would respect the rights of women and girls, but until now they have restricted their public liberties and education.
All these prohibitions have been considered by Amnesty International, together with the International Commission of Jurists, as a crime against humanity and that, therefore, the International Criminal Court would have to come into play to judge the Taliban. “The increasingly stifling restrictions and the constant violent repression of peaceful protest reflect the existence of a single organized system of oppression,” says the text, in accordance with the provisions of article 7 of the Rome Statute, to qualify as a crime against humanity. crimes against women.
In a report published this Friday, ‘The Taliban’s war on women. The crime against humanity of gender persecution in Afghanistan’, Amnesty International together with the International Commission of Jurists have presented a legal analysis detailing the reasons why the “draconian restrictions” imposed by the Taliban on the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan they could constitute the crime against humanity of gender-based persecution. The report covers the period from August 2021, when fundamentalists took over the country after the chaotic withdrawal of US troops and allied countries, to January 2023.
“System of Oppression and Persecution”
The text also speaks of the use of imprisonment, enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment as an unprecedented form of violence by fundamentalists. “Afghan women and girls are victims of a crime against humanity of gender-based persecution. The seriousness of the crime calls for a much stronger 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,” she declared. Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
The analysis is based on a body of evidence, collected by Amnesty International, civil society organizations and UN authorities, and offers a legal analysis of why Afghan women and girls should also be considered as refugees in need of protection. international.
“The Taliban’s campaign of persecution is targeting women and girls across the country on the basis of gender and potentially affects each and every woman and girl in Afghanistan,” the analysis reads.
The discriminatory restrictions imposed by the Taliban on women and girls violate the human rights guarantees contained in numerous international treaties to which Afghanistan is a party.
In the report, they call for a “drastic and urgent change in the international community’s approach” to the criminal conduct of the Taliban, which prevents women and girls in Afghanistan from exercising most human rights.
www.abc.es
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism