By Frozan Akbaryaar (CAPS)
Since the Taliban’s second takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, the situation of human rights has changed dramatically. The Taliban dismantled the legal structures of human rights institutions and civil society organizations. These sudden changes have increased human rights violations. Women, religious and ethnic minorities’ rights are violated on a massive scale. Despite international efforts, including negotiations and sanctions, and national efforts, including protests by human rights defenders, especially women rights defenders, and the reporting of human rights violations through different platforms, the Taliban persist in applying their fundamentalist ideology and their strict interpretation of Sharia law that pays no regard to accepted standards of human rights. At the same time, the climate of fear created by the Taliban has made reporting violations difficult. International actions, such as appointing a special UN rapporteur to monitor violations, have had little impact given the absence of national mechanisms, such as independent human rights institutions and active civil and human rights organizations. Despite the Taliban’s clampdown on freedom of expression, social media provides limited avenues for exposing violations amidst pervasive censorship. In this context, the international community plays a critical role in holding the regime accountable for its human rights abuses and, specifically, its ‘gender apartheid’. Keywords: Afghanistan, Taliban, human rights, women’s rights, human rights advocacy.
Link:
Overview of Human Rights Protection in Afghanistan: 1996–2023
