The United Nations reported Tuesday that women and girls are bearing the brunt of a persistent “dangerous erosion” of human rights in Afghanistan, attributing the crisis to an “intentional failure” of the country’s radical Taliban leaders.
“With authority comes responsibility,” said Roza Otunbayeva, the head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, referencing the August 2021 return of the formerly insurgent Taliban to power. “The claim of the de facto authorities to be legitimate representatives of the Afghan people within the United Nations must be accompanied by genuine efforts to uphold and advance our shared norms and values,” she stated.
The UNAMA statement, released in connection with International Human Rights Day, asserted that the human rights record of the Taliban had been particularly marked by their “systematic discrimination” against Afghan women and girls.
The Taliban government, which is not yet formally recognized by any country, has barred Afghan women from almost all aspects of every day and public life. Girls are banned from receiving education beyond the sixth grade, and most workplaces are not allowed to employ female staff except for a few sectors, such as health, police, and immigration. Women cannot undertake road or air trips unless accompanied by a male guardian.
The restrictions stem from dozens of decrees the reclusive Taliban supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has issued over the last three years based on his strict interpretation of Islamic law, known as Sharia.
Tuesday’s statement reminded the Taliban that Afghanistan endorsed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the U.N. General Assembly, on December 10, 1948.
“If Afghans, in particular women and girls, continue to be denied their rights, this constitutes a clear and intentional failure to protect and be responsible for the well-being of all who live in Afghanistan,” said Fiona Frazer, the country representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Taliban leaders have ignored repeated U.N.-led international calls for them to reverse their sweeping curbs on women, saying their governance is in line with Sharia.
The U.N. has repeatedly declined requests from the de facto Afghan authorities to represent the country due to their restrictions on women.
Earlier this month, Afghan public health ministry authorities abruptly ordered medical institutions to stop enrolling female students nationwide, citing a new edict released by Akhundzada. The move has effectively closed one of the last available avenues for girls to seek higher education.
The edict has drawn a global backlash and calls for its immediate reversal amid warnings it would leave millions of women without female nurses and midwives in a country where the Taliban have barred male doctors from treating female patients.
The U.N. has warned the latest ban would exacerbate a deepening humanitarian crisis and health challenges facing poverty-stricken Afghanistan, reeling from years of war and natural disasters.
