UN rights council slams Taliban's 'oppression' of women

The UN Human Rights Council on Monday unanimously urged the Taliban to repeal all practices restricting the fundamental freedoms of women and girls.

The council said Afghanistan's institutionalized discrimination should shock humanity and that human rights in the country were deteriorating.

What did the UN rights council say about Taliban oppression of women?

The United Nations' 47-country rights body adopted the resolution without a vote. It voiced serious concern about the "grave, worsening, widespread and systematic oppression of all women and girls in Afghanistan by the Taliban". The resolution was brought forward by 37 European countries, plus Canada and Chile.

The council "deplores the Taliban's institutionalization of its system of discrimination, segregation, domination, disrespect for human dignity and exclusion of women and girls, and the harms that it has entrenched, which are unbearable, unjustifiable and should shock the conscience of humanity", it said.

It said it was deeply concerned about the "continuing, systematic, systemic and all-encompassing erosion" of respect for women's rights by the Taliban. The council said many human rights had been "under concerted attack in Afghanistan in the past five years", while the Taliban "have enforced a growing web of edicts and institutional controls that has reshaped nearly every aspect of public and private life, engineering a society founded on ideological conformity, fear and exclusion".

How have women been affected since the Taliban returned to power?

The Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021 and imposed a strict version of Islamic law. Women have been particularly affected by Taliban government measures. They are banned from public places including parks and from most jobs, while education for girls beyond age 12 is outlawed.

The Taliban government remains largely excluded from the international community, which criticizes its repressive measures.

What did the council urge the Taliban and others to do?

The council urged the Taliban to repeal "all policies and practices that restrict the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls", including the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, to education, to work and to vote. It also urged the international community to "adjust further its engagement with any stakeholders in Afghanistan" with regard to human rights and fundamental freedoms for all Afghans.

The council condemned all forms of discrimination against women and girls. It reiterated that sexual slavery of boys, child marriages and forced marriages constituted human rights abuses.

It deplored the suffering of Afghans and voiced deep concern about deeply entrenched impunity in the country. The council extended the mandate of its independent special rapporteur on rights in Afghanistan for another year.