Taliban leaders have committed “crimes against humanity” against Afghan women by drastically restricting their rights and must be held to account for this in court.
Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) come to this conclusion in a new report released on Friday that assesses the seriousness of the restrictive measures imposed on women and girls in Afghanistan and the violence perpetrated against them by the fundamentalist movement over the past two years. .
“The Taliban’s campaign of gender-motivated persecution is so widespread, so severe that taken together, these acts and policies constitute a repressive system aimed at subjugating and marginalizing” all Afghan women, the government said in a joint statement. ICJ Secretary General, Santiago A. Canton.
There is no doubt that the ongoing “war on women” is organized in high places and carried out systematically nationwide in a way that meets the criteria defining “crimes under international law”, argues for his part the Secretary General of Amnesty International, Agnès Callamard.
broken promise
Although they swore after their return to power in the summer of 2021 to respect the rights of Afghan women, the Taliban have gradually imposed many restrictions that have made them “second-class citizens”.
In particular, they have restricted their freedom of movement by demanding that they cannot leave their homes without a “male chaperone” who must accompany them at all times.
Those who dare to derogate from this restriction are “harassed, arrested or beaten” shamelessly by the Taliban, notes the report, which also documented several cases of extrajudicial detention and torture linked to such “misconduct”.
Restrictions on women’s movements are accompanied by dress restrictions that have gradually been tightened, forcing the wearing of the niqab or burqa.
The Taliban have also limited the positions that can be held in the civil service, in some cases requiring the women dismissed to suggest a male relative to replace them.
They also prohibited women from working for non-governmental organizations or the United Nations, thus limiting their ability to earn a living.
At the same time, women’s access to education has been restricted at the primary level, which has forced many Afghan women who were pursuing university studies to give up their career plans.
The increased economic fragility stemming from these developments increases their dependence on men as the Taliban abolished the mechanisms put in place by the previous government to facilitate the reporting of sexual violence, which is widespread in the country.
Women who dare to protest publicly against the loss of their fundamental rights have been severely repressed, the report points out.
Whips, metal pipes and electric weapons were used in particular to discourage any protest.
Demonstrators were arrested at their homes several weeks after the event, imprisoned without any judicial process and tortured, sometimes for several days, before being forced to sign documents in which they pledged not to denounce their conditions of detention.
The report points out that the women concerned are subject to a strong social stigma “which can last for the rest of their lives” and also affect other members of their family.
Approach to change
Amnesty International and the ICJ believe that the international community must toughen its approach towards the Taliban by ensuring that the provisions of international law are applied.
The International Criminal Court, which at the end of last year relaunched an investigation into crimes committed in Afghanistan, must ensure, the two organizations plead, to take into account the abuses suffered by women since the return to power of the Taliban. .
States are also being pressured to use the principle of universal jurisdiction to prosecute Taliban leaders traveling abroad in a way that sends a clear signal to the movement that their discriminatory policies “are unacceptable and will never be accepted”.
Considering the seriousness of the situation, Amnesty International and the ICJ also recommend that any woman or girl fleeing Afghanistan be considered “de facto” as a refugee because of the risks of persecution existing in the country.
The story so far
2001
The Taliban, in power for five years in Afghanistan, fled under pressure from a rebel group actively supported by the United States after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
2021
After two decades of fighting against the international force deployed in the country, they recaptured large swaths of the territory and imposed themselves on Kabul during the summer while the Americans withdrew their last soldiers.
2022
Despite the assurances given as to their desire to respect the rights of women, they multiply the restrictive measures, imposing in particular in May the presence of a chaperone for any trip outside the house. Their access to the university is prohibited at the end of the year.