ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – The International Crisis Group (ICG) says that some regional countries tend to downplay the importance of women’s and girls’ rights in their dealings with the Taliban.
In a report titled “The Taliban’s Neighbourhood: Regional Diplomacy with Afghanistan” released on Tuesday, January 30, the organization evaluated the Taliban’s relationships with neighboring and regional countries.
According to the report, the Taliban, largely isolated by Western countries, is seeking to build connections with nations around them. The region finds it challenging to refuse these overtures, given their security and economic concerns.
The report says that the Taliban’s refusal to uphold basic rights for Afghan women and girls and their imposition of draconian social rules have sabotaged, at least for now, the chances that the international community, including the UN and other international bodies, might recognize their regime.
Since retaking power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban have imposed a brutal crackdown on women and girls, violating rights in every aspect of their lives, including their ability to study, work, access health care, and move freely.
In the recent crackdown on women and girls, the ruling regime in Kabul has arrested dozens of women in Kabul and central and northern provinces over the past two months for perceived violations of the regime’s strict dress code. The ongoing detention of women by the regime has raised serious concern among women and girls in the country and triggered widespread reactions from rights activists, religious scholars, and the outside world.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) says countries who have signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women (CEDAW) should file complaints against the Taliban in the International Court of Justice.
In a statement released on Wednesday, January 31, Heather Barr, Associate Director of the Women’s Rights Division at HRW, said that the UN’s highest court could play an important role in giving Afghan women and girls their day in court against the Taliban regime. “The support of just one state party to CEDAW could make that happen,” Barr said.
Human rights defenders in Afghanistan and internationally believe that they have a unique opportunity to codify gender apartheid in international laws as the United Nations reviews its convention on crimes against humanity.
A joint report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan and a Working Group on discrimination against women and girls has revealed alarming details of widespread and systematic discrimination against women and girls in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover. The report concludes that the Taliban’s action may amount to the crime against humanity of gender persecution under the Rome Statute.
Although the Taliban’s treatment of women and the deprivation of education for girls have tarnished their image on the global stage, only few regional countries have criticized the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls, the ICG report indicated. The regional governments, ICG says, are not willing to put emphasis on women’s and girls’ rights.
The report indicates that security concerns remain as a primary agenda in regional discussions with the Taliban, particularly for Pakistan, which has faced attacks from the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) following the Taliban’s resurgence to power.
