The foreign ministers of the G7 countries on Thursday condemned the increasingly severe restrictions imposed by the Taliban on the freedom of Afghan women, the subject of a closed meeting the same day in New York of the Security Council of the ‘UN.
Posted at 4:52 p.m.
“We condemn the introduction of increasingly restrictive measures, which greatly reduce the ability of half of the population to participate in society” in a free manner and with equal rights, said in a statement the ministers meeting this week in Germany.
The Taliban are isolating themselves “thus a little more from the international community”, judged the ministers of the G7 – Germany, France, Italy, Canada, the United States and Japan and the United Kingdom -, calling on them to take “urgent » Measures lifting restrictions on girls and women.
These countries refer, among other things, to a decree promulgated last week requiring women to wear the full veil in public. At the end of March, the Taliban had also closed high schools and colleges for girls, just hours after their reopening, announced for a long time.
Taliban authorities in the western Afghan city of Herat have banned men and women from eating together in restaurants, including if they are married, officials said on Thursday. an official source.
For the European Union’s special envoy to Afghanistan, Tomas Niklasson, the Taliban’s decision to keep secondary schools closed to girls in Afghanistan has “raised doubts” about their determination to keep their promises and remains a major obstacle to their international recognition. The about-face has “raised doubts in our heads about the credibility of their promises, and about their reliability as a partner,” he said Thursday.
“Naïve” UN approach
In New York, at the initiative of Norway, the UN Security Council held a closed meeting which could be followed in the coming days by a unanimous statement condemning the restrictions imposed on women.
Three countries, non-permanent members of the Council strongly criticized these restrictions before the session.
“The policies of the Taliban continue to focus on the oppression of women and girls rather than on the economic crisis”, denounced the Norwegian deputy ambassador, Trine Heimerback.
The latest restrictions imposed on women are “utterly deplorable”, added the Irish ambassador to the UN, Geraldine Byrne Nason. “It is now perfectly clear that the Taliban have no intention of honoring their commitments to the international community,” she added.
“The rights of women and girls must be at the center of our collective commitment,” said Deputy Ambassador of Mexico Alicia Guadalupe Buenrostro Massieu.
In mid-March, the UN Security Council approved a resolution renewing the Organization’s political mission in Afghanistan for one year, relying on a more moderate approach by the Taliban, who came to power in mid-August, compared to their previous conquest of power, between 1996 and 2001.
According to an ambassador speaking on condition of anonymity, the UN secretariat’s approach to the Taliban has been “a bit naive”.