UN Experts Condemn the Taliban's Treatment of Women as Criminal
Experts from the United Nations said on Friday that the Taliban's abuse of women and children in Afghanistan may constitute a crime against humanity and that the group should be investigated and prosecuted under international law.
The Taliban swiftly denied the accusation.
Experts chosen by the United Nations stated after the Taliban confirmed that three women were among 12 individuals lashed on Wednesday in front of hundreds of spectators at a local sports stadium. It was a sign that the Taliban will return to the harsh punishments they frequently used during their leadership in the 1990s.
And on the 11th of November, following Friday prayers in the main mosque of Taloqan, in the northeastern Takhar province, 10 men and nine women were flogged 39 times, respectively, in front of elders, scholars, and locals. They had been accused of stealing from their families, committing adultery, and fleeing.
The most recent acts by the Taliban against women and girls have exacerbated the "most extreme globally" rights breaches, according to U.N. experts, and may amount to gender persecution, which is a crime against humanity.
The experts are not authorized to speak on behalf of the United Nations but are required to report their conclusions to the organization, as reported by Agence France-Presse.
In August 2021, as U.S. and NATO troops were leaving Afghanistan after a 20-year conflict, the Taliban seized power. They promised more lenient rule, including protections for women and minorities, but have instead established a stringent interpretation of Islamic law known as Sharia across the country.
They have made it illegal for females to attend junior high and high school, severely limited their work opportunities, and mandated that they cover their bodies from head to toe in public. Parks, gyms, and amusement parks all have strict rules on female visitors.
From 1996 until 2001, when the Taliban were forced out of power by a U.S.-led invasion in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, public lashings, public executions, and stoning for supposed offenses were commonplace across Afghanistan. In the past, the Taliban had provided safe haven for al-Qaida and its commander, Osama bin Laden.
The men who accompanied women who wore bright attire or who did not cover their faces were thrashed by the Taliban, according to the experts' statement, which did not cite any specific examples of public lashings.
"We are deeply concerned that such actions are intended to compel men and boys to punish women and girls who resist the Taliban's erasure of them, further depriving them of their rights, and normalizing violence against them," it said.
The statement urged the Taliban to allow Afghan women back into the public sphere, liberate detained activists, and reopen public institutions.
Richard Bennett, the special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, and Farida Shaheed, the special rapporteur on the right to education, are two members of the expert team designated by the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the Taliban's newly appointed foreign ministry spokesperson, criticized the U.N. for imposing sanctions on the group that once led the insurgency in Afghanistan.
Balkhi wrote to the Associated Press about what he believes are war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed by the United Nations, including the "present collective punishment of innocent Afghans by the U.N. sanctions regime, all in the name of women's rights and equality."
Following the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO soldiers from Afghanistan, the country's aid-dependent economy has been hampered by sanctions against Taliban officials and the freezing of billions of dollars in foreign currency reserves.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, as the Taliban's government calls itself, is internationally and economically isolated because no country has recognized it.
As humanitarian conditions deteriorate and the country prepares for a second winter under Taliban rule, the International Committee of the Red Cross reported on Thursday, that it was seeing an increase in cases of child pneumonia and malnutrition, as well as an increase in the poverty level compared to previous years.