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Australia, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands are set to start
legal proceedings against the Taliban for violating a U.N.
convention on women, to which Afghanistan is a party.
The countries launched the initiative on Wednesday on the
sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, which is taking place in
New York until Monday.
Despite promising more moderate rule after they seized power in
2021, the Taliban have barred women and girls from education
beyond sixth grade, many public spaces and most jobs. In August,
the Vice and Virtue Ministry issued laws banning women’s bare
faces and prohibiting them from raising their voices in public.
More than 20 countries expressed their support Thursday for the
proposed legal action against the Taliban.
“We condemn the gross and systematic human rights violations and
abuses in Afghanistan, particularly the gender-based
discrimination against women and girls," the countries said.
“Afghanistan is responsible under international law for its
ongoing gross and systematic violation of numerous obligations
under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women,” they added.
The countries said they did not politically recognize the
Taliban as the legitimate leaders of the Afghan population.
“Afghanistan’s failure to fulfill its human rights treaty
obligations is a key obstacle to normalization of relations,”
they said.
The Taliban’s deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said human
rights were protected in Afghanistan and that nobody faced
discrimination.
“Unfortunately, an attempt is being made to spread propaganda
against Afghanistan through the mouths of several fugitive
(Afghan) women and misrepresent the situation,” he said on
social media platform X.
“It is absurd to accuse the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan of
violating human rights and gender discrimination,” he added.
The Taliban reject all criticism of their policies, especially
those affecting women and girls, describing it as interference.
They maintain that their actions are in line with their
interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.
Fereshta Abbasi, an Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights
Watch, urged other countries to register their support for the
four countries’ legal action and for them to involve Afghan
women as the process moved forward.
“The announcement by Germany, Canada, Australia and the
Netherlands may mark the beginning of a path to justice for the
Taliban’s egregious human rights violations against Afghan women
and girls,” said Abbasi.
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