In a new report released on Friday, September 8, Human Rights Watch said the Taliban’s persecution of women in Afghanistan qualifies as ‘crimes against humanity’. The watchdog’s research since 2021 after the Taliban regained control over Afghanistan concludes that the group’s treatment of women fulfills all four conditions for crimes against humanity as set out in the Rome Statute.
The watchdog has petitioned the International Criminal Court to probe the Taliban’s gender-based persecution of Afghan women.
The report comes amid a hunger strike by a group of women activists who call for the criminalization of the Taliban’s behavior under international laws as ‘gender aparthied’.
Tamana Zaryab Paryani, a prominent Afghan women’s rights activist, and several others have entered the eighth day of their hunger strike in Cologne, Germany, protesting the international community’s inaction regarding the persecution of women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.
Paryani, a vocal opponent of the Taliban’s gender policies, was arrested by the group on January 19, 2022. After a month in Taliban custody, she was released and subsequently sought refuge in Germany.
Since retaking Afghanistan, the Taliban have imposed stringent restrictions on women, including denying them work and education rights. The group has also suppressed multiple women’s protests and has arrested organizers and activists.
Although many international human rights bodies are yet to react to the strike, several activists from Afghanistan have joined the strike or shown support in Norway, Pakistan, and inside the country.
Taking on Thursday to X, formerly known as Twitter, Paryani said, “We die, but not stop. We want action.”
The UN Human Rights Council, the leading global body to observe the status of human rights in the world, is expected to discuss the situation in Afghanistan in its 54th regular session this coming Monday, September 11.
