AFGHANISTAN: UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION MUST BE BACKED UP BY CONCERTED ACTION TO RESTORE THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND GIRLS

Responding to the unanimous adoption of the resolution at the UN Security Council today demanding that the Taliban urgently lift restrictions that violate the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan in response to the latest ban on Afghan women working for the UN in the country, Joyce Bukuru, Senior Advocate at Amnesty International, said:

“The Security Council resolution has been adopted in the midst of a relentless assault on the human rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. It is imperative that the Taliban abide by the resolution, immediately reverse the bans and restrictions on the rights of women and girls including the rights to work and education and release all those detained for protesting or speaking out against the same.

It is imperative that the Taliban abide by the resolution, immediately reverse the bans and restrictions
on the rights of women and girls…
and release all those detained for protesting or
speaking out against the same.

Joyce Bukuru, Senior Advocate at Amnesty International

“While a welcome step in the right direction, the resolution failed to include the need to hold accountable those responsible for the systematic violation of rights.  It also fell short of setting out concrete steps the members of the Security Council should take to support ongoing efforts to restore the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan and keep the Taliban as de facto authorities accountable for their grave and systematic violations of women and girls rights.

‘’Afghanistan is bound by obligations under international human rights law, yet every effort has thus far failed to stop the Taliban’s abuses. This resolution must be accompanied by maximum international pressure that sends a clear message to the Taliban that the rights of women and girls are not up for negotiation – they are universal and inalienable.’’

Background

On 5 April 2023, the Taliban announced that no Afghan woman is permitted to work for the UN in Afghanistan as an extension of a previous ban on women working in NGOs. This announcement came as Afghanistan is facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.

Previously, Amnesty International has documented how women and girls’ lives in Afghanistan are being devastated by the Taliban’s crackdown on their human rights. Since they took control of the country in August 2021, the Taliban have violated women’s and girls’ rights to education, work and free movement; decimated the system of protection and support for those fleeing domestic violence; detained women and girls for minor violations of discriminatory rules; and contributed to a surge in the rates of child, early and forced marriage in Afghanistan.