UN to investigate Afghan women rights

UN experts have demanded an investigation into the suppression of women's rights in Afghanistan as a form of gender persecution as the situation of women in Afghanistan has been deteriorating with every passing day due to Taliban's suppression of basic rights of Afghan women, and girls in the country, Khaaam Press reported on Sunday.

The special rapporteurs highlighted how gender bias is a punishable offence under international law and warned of severe consequences.

Experts stated that in Afghanistan, recent months have seen a rise in the fundamental rights abuses of women, which are already "severe and unacceptable," according to a news release from the UN. According to the UN Special Rapporteurs, women's rights activists have been increasingly targeted, beaten, and detained in recent months, citing activist Zarifa Yaquobi as an example, who is still incarcerated in an unknown location.

According to Logar officials, fourteen people--three women and eleven men--were publicly flogged in the eastern Afghan province of Logar for thievery and "moral offences." As per Khaama Press, they each suffered 39 lashes.

The experts urged the international community to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of gender-based violence in "relevant international and extraterritorial jurisdictions," while simultaneously working to restore women's rights in Afghanistan. Following Afghanistan's political turmoil and the installation of the new administration, the authorities pledged to protect women's rights, but eventually reversed their position and began implementing harsh rules against them, Khaama Press reported.

Since the summer of 2021, women in Afghanistan have had many of their most fundamental rights restricted or rescinded in a country that has one of the highest rates of violence against women globally.

Since the Taliban took over Kabul, Afghan women have engaged in various forms of resistance, from directly protesting against the oppressors to keeping their resistance hidden.

From chanting, "do not be afraid, we are all together" a day after the occupation of Herat by the Taliban to "food, work, freedom," and "fearless education" in Kabul and to building secret schools, women have defied the Taliban's policies on women and never gave up the hope of freedom and equality.

The group has also 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.

Various rights group is calling on the Taliban to implement major policy changes and measures to uphold the rights of women and girls.

Since seizing control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban has been the country's de facto authority. Despite initial public commitments to uphold the rights of women and girls, the Taliban introduced policies of systematic discrimination that violate their rights.

Women and girls across Afghanistan reacted to this crackdown with a wave of protests. In response, the Taliban targeted protesters with harassment and abuse, arbitrary arrest and detention, enforced disappearance, and physical and psychological torture.