Taliban treatment of women may amount to crime against humanity, says UN

Confining women to homes is ‘tantamount to imprisonment’, says rights panel

A woman walks past a mural calling for women and children’s rights in Afghanistan (Getty Images)

The way the Taliban is treating Afghan women and girls by excluding them from public spaces such as parks and gyms, as well as stopping them from accessing schools and universities, may amount to a crime against humanity, UN experts said on Friday.

This treatment of women and girls may qualify as “gender persecution” under the Rome Statute which has been undersigned by Afghanistan, said Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on Afghanistan, and nine other UN experts.

Confining women to their homes is “tantamount to imprisonment”, the UN experts said in a statement, adding that keeping women inside will likely lead to more instances of domestic violence and mental health problems.

In their statement, the officials also cited the arrest of female activist Zarifa Yaqobu and four male colleagues this month, who all remain under detention by the Taliban regime.

The Taliban has, in response, questioned the UN’s own treatment of “innocent Afghans” via sanctions.

“The current collective punishment of innocent Afghans by the UN sanctions regime, all in the name of women’s rights and equality, amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity," said the Taliban foreign affairs ministry spokesperson, Abdul Qahar Balkhi.

The statement from the UN panel of experts comes after the Taliban regime repeatedly rowed back on its promises to rule Afghanistan in a more progressive way, by allowing girls and women to access schools, colleges and places of work, just 15 months after the fall of Kabul.

The hardline Islamist regime took over from a Western-backed government in August last year.

The UN human rights office has also called on the Taliban to stop public floggings in Afghanistan, dozens of which have been recorded this month being carried out in a football stadium.

Incidents have included a woman and a man being lashed 39 times each, for the perceived crime of spending time alone together outside of marriage, said the office’s spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.

A Taliban official said those being flogged were found guilty of offences such as adultery, robbery and gay sex, all deemed punishable under Sharia law.

The response by the UNHCR was described as an “insult towards Islam and violation of international principles” by the Taliban administration, Mr Balkhi said.