Human Rights Watch (HRW) made an announcement on Friday that Taliban authorities continue to perpetrate gender-based crimes against women and girls in Afghanistan. The announcement comes with a call from Elizabeth Evenson, the international justice director at HRW, for coordinated international community support to ensure that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has the necessary resources and cooperation to investigate such crimes and provide accountability for gender persecution. Evenson’s call for international action comes as a response to a comprehensive HRW report chronicling the human rights abuses carried out by the re-instated Taliban regime.
The investigation by HRW began after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021. The report uncovers different forms of gender persecution, including restrictions on freedom of movement, expression, association, employment, and dress, as well as bans on education and arbitrary arrests. Although men also face some restrictions, the report highlights that the all-encompassing restrictions against women indicate a significantly higher degree of human rights abuses.
An example of such discriminations can be seen in a December 2022 Taliban order that barred women from working with international and domestic NGOs. This is in stark contrast to men who face few employment restrictions. These disparities extend also to dress codes, education, and access to public spaces and transportation.
In HRW’s view, the Taliban’s policies against women meet the criteria of crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute. The Statute stipulates that for actions to count as crimes against humanity, they must be part of a systematic attack directed against a civilian population, executed with knowledge of the assault, and undertaken with the intention of committing such an attack.
Since Afghanistan signed the Rome Statute in February 2023, the ICC has jurisdiction over crimes against humanity committed in Afghanistan. Following a two-year hiatus, the ICC investigations returned its focus on the situation in Afghanistan from October 2022 onward. The ICC also introduced a Policy on Gender Persecution to devote resources to investigating and prosecuting sexual and gender-based violence such as gender persecution.
Echoing HRW’s calls, recently, several organizations have called for action against Afghanistan on account of the Taliban’s human rights abuses. The UN Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, has urged for the prosecution of Taliban leaders through the ICC, citing gender apartheid. Amnesty International likewise has encouraged the application of universal jurisdiction against Taliban authorities accused of violating international law.