KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – A group of UN experts, including Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett, has called on national and international sports organizations to take “decisive action” against the Taliban’s ban on women’s and girls’ participation in sports.
In a press release on Friday, August 9, the experts urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to support Afghan women athletes and provide them with the necessary resources.
“For nearly three years, the Taliban has barred women and girls in Afghanistan from participating in all sports, an unacceptable abrogation of their rights, which no other country imposes,” the experts said.
“This ban is part of the Taliban´s institutionalized system of sex and gender discrimination and oppression, which may amount to crimes against humanity,” they added.
Shortly after taking power, the Taliban promised to respect women’s rights. However, in nearly three years of rule, the group has severely restricted women and girls, imposing curb on their movements and denying them education, employment, sports, and other freedoms.
UN experts, legal scholars, and activists all say that the Taliban’s oppression of women and girls amounts to a system of apartheid, designed to deliberately subjugate them based solely on their gender.
At this year’s Olympics in Paris, three female athletes and three male athletes represented Afghanistan, all of whom now live in exile. However, the Taliban has announced that it does not recognize the participation of the Afghan female athletes in the Games.
The UN experts welcomed the International Olympic Committee’s support for Afghan women athletes’ participation in the Games but emphasized that additional support is needed.
“It is essential that inspiring and talented Afghan women athletes are seen at the pinnacle of sports in Paris, as well as in other competitions, especially when they are being eviscerated from public life in their home country,” the experts said.
“Their participation stands against the Taliban’s systematic oppression and exclusion of women and girls,” they emphasized.
The expert stated that international sports organizations have a responsibility to oppose the Taliban’s repressive policies and support Afghan women athletes everywhere.
They also stressed that international sports organizations should avoid any actions that could be seen as complicity with the Taliban’s discriminatory and illegal policies.
