KABUL – The United States has condemned the Taliban of widespread human rights abuses in Afghanistan since takeover, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, torture, and severe restrictions on women’s rights, in its latest annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
The report, released by the U.S. State Department, said Afghanistan under Taliban rule continues to face “significant human rights challenges,” with freedoms of expression, assembly, and the press “severely curtailed.”
It cited credible accounts of journalists being harassed, arrested, and assaulted, while civil society groups operate under constant threat.
The State Department highlighted what it called “systematic discrimination and violence against women and girls,” noting the continued ban on secondary and higher education for females, prohibitions on most forms of employment, and strict dress codes.
The report also documented targeted violence against ethnic and religious minorities, particularly Hazaras, and a climate of impunity for perpetrators.
According to the findings, Taliban authorities routinely conduct arbitrary arrests, including of activists, journalists, and former government officials, often without due process. Detainees have reported beatings, electric shocks, and other forms of torture while in custody.
The United States said these violations occur in an environment where no independent judiciary exists and where Taliban security agencies exercise unchecked power.
“The absence of mechanisms for accountability ensures that abuses are rarely investigated or punished,” the report stated.
Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, the U.S. and other governments have repeatedly condemned the group’s policies, particularly its treatment of women.
Washington has imposed targeted sanctions on several Taliban leaders and pressed the group to reverse restrictions as a condition for any improvement in relations.
Human rights organizations have urged the international community to formally recognize the Taliban’s policies toward women as gender apartheid, a term increasingly used by activists and some U.N. experts to describe the systematic exclusion of women from public life in Afghanistan.
The Taliban have rejected such criticisms, insisting their governance aligns with their interpretation of Islamic law.
