The South Asian Councillors for Human Rights, Democracy and Peace, strongly condemn five years of the Taliban’s systemic and widespread human rights violations and the imposition of gender apartheid on women and call on the international community, states, civil society, and media organizations to act in solidarity with the women and men of Afghanistan who continue to struggle for their rights, and to stand firmly against Taliban tyranny.
Five years have passed since the Taliban overthrew Afghanistan’s constitutionally established government. Since then, the group has deprived the Afghan people of their fundamental rights, imposed a system of gender apartheid on women and girls, and persecuted ethnic and religious minorities. The Taliban have denied millions of Afghan women and girls access to secondary and higher education, creating one of the most extensive systems of educational exclusion in the world. Their hardline policies have pushed Afghanistan into profound international isolation and turned it into a pariah state. These policies have also deepened poverty, food insecurity, and vulnerability to natural and man-made disasters, plunging millions of Afghanistan people deep in poverty, displacement and mass migration.
Over the past five years, children have suffered serious violations of their rights, and persons with disabilities have faced discrimination and inadequate access to essential services. Women protesters have been arrested, imprisoned, and subjected to abuse. Ethnic and religious minorities have been persecuted, while former government personnel, perceived Taliban opponents, and other dissenting voices have been arrested or killed, sometimes merely on suspicion of opposition. Independent media outlets have been closed or severely restricted, civil society organizations have been dismantled, and human rights defenders have been detained, threatened, or forced into exile.
The international community’s indifference, and its pursuit of engagement without clear human rights conditions, has enabled the Taliban to continue their repressive domestic policies while benefiting from international engagement and assistance. Governments in the region, although generally refraining from formally recognizing the Taliban, have nevertheless helped the group consolidate its control over the Afghan people and the country’s institutions.
Peace and respect for human rights in Afghanistan cannot be achieved unless governments in the region and the wider international community commit themselves to implementing relevant United Nations resolutions calling for an inclusive and representative government, respect for human rights, and the full and meaningful participation of women in public life. Women and girls must be able to enjoy all their fundamental rights, including their rights to education and employment.
The South Asian Councillors for Human Rights, Democracy and Peace, therefore, demand the following:
- The Taliban must immediately end all restrictions on women and girls and restore their rights to education, employment, freedom of movement, peaceful assembly, and full participation in public life.
- The international community must refuse to recognize or normalize relations with the Taliban until the group demonstrates measurable and verifiable respect for human rights and establishes an inclusive and representative government.
- The United Nations and Member States must strengthen accountability for arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial killing, gender persecution, and other serious violations of international law.
- Regional governments must comply with relevant United Nations resolutions and end political, economic, or diplomatic actions that enable the Taliban to consolidate their repressive rule.
- The Taliban must end the persecution of ethnic and religious minorities, former government personnel, human rights defenders, journalists, civil society activists, and all persons perceived to oppose their rule.
- Independent media and civil society organizations must be permitted to operate freely, and journalists, peaceful protesters, and human rights defenders must be protected from arrest, intimidation, and violence.
- Humanitarian assistance must continue to reach the Afghan people through independent and accountable mechanisms without strengthening or legitimizing the Taliban’s répressive institutions.
- The international community must support Afghan women, civil society organizations, victims, and survivors in documenting violations, pursuing justice, and participating meaningfully in all international discussions and decisions concerning Afghanistan.
- The international community, and states in Europe, especially in the region, must stop deporting Afghan people seeking shelter outside their country and provide humanitarian aid to them.
Signatories:
- Hina Jilani, Pakistan
- Sultana Kamal, Bangladesh
- Hameeda Hossain, Bangladesh
- Syeda Hameed, India
- Kanak Mani Dixit, Nepal
- Sima Samar, Afghanistan
*South Asian Councillors for Human Rights, Democracy and Peace, is a group of independent leaders selected by the South Asian community of human rights defenders affiliated with SAHR to represent the South Asian civil society voice for the promotion of peace and security, human rights and democracy in the region and globally.