KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Germany, Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands are seeking to hold the Taliban accountable for its discriminatory policies against women.
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, September 25, the four countries declared that the Taliban has breached the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). As a state party under Article 29 of the convention, Afghanistan could face proceedings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to resolve the dispute.
“In the face of Afghanistan’s ongoing gross and systematic violations of its international legal obligations, Afghanistan must be held accountable,” they said in the statement. “We support this initiative. We call upon Afghanistan and the Taliban to immediately cease its violations of the rights of women and girls and to answer to the request for negotiations on this matter,”
“The women and girls of Afghanistan deserve nothing less than the full enjoyment of their human rights,” they added.
The CEDAW convention was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979, with the primary purpose of eliminating discrimination against women and promoting gender equality worldwide.
Afghanistan is one of the 189 countries that have signed and ratified the convention.
The international rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) welcomed the initiative, urging other countries to get involved and provide support as the process progresses.
“The announcement by Germany, Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands may mark the beginning of a path to justice at the World Court for the Taliban’s egregious human rights violations against Afghan women and girls,” said Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at HRW.
“Is it vitally important for other countries to register their support for this action and for them to involve Afghan women as the process moves forward,” she added.
Afghanistan has become one of the worst countries in the world for women and girls over the past three years of Taliban rule. The ruling regime has imposed severe restrictions, limiting their movements and denying them access to education, employment, social mobility, and other basic freedoms.
Rights groups, UN experts, activists, and Afghan women all say that the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls constitutes gender apartheid, urging the international community and the UN to recognize it as such.
