The Taliban’s war on women in Afghanistan must be formally recognized as gender apartheid
Since then, Afghan women have been denied the most basic human rights in what can only be described as gender apartheid.
- Since then, Afghan women have been denied the most basic human rights in what can only be described as gender apartheid.
- The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission has been dissolved and the country’s 2004 constitution repealed, while legislation guaranteeing gender equality has been invalidated.
Women targeted
- Of the approximately 80 edicts issued by the Taliban, 54 specifically target women, severely restricting their rights and violating Afghanistan’s international obligations and its previous constitutional and domestic laws.
- The Taliban appear undeterred, continuing where they left off 20 years ago when they first held power.
International crime
- Karima Bennoune, an Algerian-American international law scholar, has advocated recognizing gender apartheid as a crime under international law.
- Criminalizing gender apartheid would provide the international community with a powerful legal framework to effectively respond to Taliban abuses.
- While the UN has already labelled the situation in Afghanistan gender apartheid, the term is not currently recognized under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as being among the worst international crimes.
South African support
- Most remarkably, Bronwen Levy, South Africa’s representative at the Security Council, has urged the international community to “take action against what (Bennett’s) report describes as gender apartheid, much like it did in support of South Africa’s struggle against racial apartheid.” Elsewhere, the chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, as well as the head of its Delegation for Relations with Afghanistan, have described the “unacceptable” situation in Afghanistan as one of gender apartheid.
- Whenever and wherever apartheid systems emerge, it represents a failure of the international community.
- Recognizing Taliban rule as gender apartheid is not only critical for Afghans, it is equally critical for the credibility of the entire UN system.