December 10 is Human Rights Day. Seventy-five years ago, the United Nations General Assembly approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which set out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected around the world. Today, more than 190 countries have ratified the declaration.
This year, Human Rights Day is being celebrated while the women and girls of Afghanistan are facing such clear violations of their basic rights that UN human rights experts warn that the Taliban’s policies could be considered a “crime against humanity.”
In this article, we have taken a look at the 14 months of the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan and how some of their most egregious policies have violated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Restrictions on women and violation of women’s fundamental rights and freedom
Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
Article 2: Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 26: Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages.
In the second week of their control over Afghanistan, the Taliban ordered female government employees not to return to their work. This Taliban action initiated their plan to remove women from the social scene of the entire country. In less than a month, the Taliban deprived girls over the age of 13 of the right to education, closing the gates of schools to them. As a result of this Taliban policy, more than one million girls in Afghanistan have been deprived of the right to education.
Although the Taliban have not yet closed universities to girls, the Taliban have taken away the right to choose any field and profession from female students, forcing them to choose only the fields of health, sharia, and education. Then, in May, the Taliban issued a mandatory hijab order and took away the right of women and girls to choose their clothing.
Restrictions on women’s movement and lack of access to public services
Article 13: Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
Article 21: Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
In February 2022, the Taliban ordered that women cannot travel without a mahram (close male relative acting as chaperone). In practice, this order deprived women-headed households of the possibility of earning a living and has prevented many women from accessing health services. In addition, the Taliban use this order to prevent women and girls who want to leave Afghanistan in order to continue their education. In one case, the Taliban stopped 80 female students from travelling because they weren’t accompanied by close male relations. The Taliban have also imposed restrictions on women eating in restaurants.
A few weeks ago, the Taliban banned women from going to public bathhouses and amusement parks. Additionally, the Taliban have created the Minsitry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, whose goals are to control people’s lives, especially women. Its agents are actively reduced the parameters of women’s activities in public. For example, in Daikundi province, the ministry told business women that they are not allowed to engage with male employers and clients. Also, women in Uruzgan are not allowed to buy SIM cards, and in Herat they do not have the right to have ultrasound examinations.
Removal of women from the social and political scene
Article 21: Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
Article 23: Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
In August 2021, not one women was chosen when the Taliban announced their cabinet. Moreover, the Taliban dismantled the Independent Human Rights Commission, which dealt with cases of violence against women. In a sign of what was to come, the Taliban effectively changed the Ministry of Women’s Affairs into the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, whose task is to control the behaviour and clothing of people in private and public.
From banning the right to peaceful assembly to arrest and torture
Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6: Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
Article 20: Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
After the Taliban regained control of the country, women were among the first groups to challenge the Taliban’s policies in the streets. After the peaceful demonstrations of women spread throughout the country, the Taliban banned all gatherings without its permission. After the women continued their protests, the Taliban kidnapped several protesters from their homes. Though most of those women were released from detention after about a month, others are still being arrested and held in prisons and jails. Often the Taliban releases no information about their condition or whether they are facing any charges, and do not let relations visit them.
In addition, the Taliban have beaten, tortured, and even killed detained female protesters. In an investigative report published in October, Zan Times reported on a disturbing pattern of young women vanishing in Mazar-e-Sharif and then their bodies being discovered, dumped anonymously in the city. The deadly violence aimed at women seems to have its origins in female-led protests in the city against the regime in September 2021.
In a recent report, Human Rights Watch spoke to three women activists who were arrested by the Taliban. These women said that the Taliban tortured and humiliated them during interrogation and detention. According to this report, the Taliban kept in detention women protesters in a small room in very unsanitary conditions, usually with no or little access to water, food, or toilets.
Consequences of violating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Abdul Ahad Farzam, a human rights activist, says that all the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights have been violated by the Taliban. According to him, if a nation that voted to approve the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, then violates its articles, then any other government that has accepted this declaration can take action against that country. According to Farzam, responses can include non-recognition, issuing condemnations, breaking political relations and sometimes military action. This human rights activist also believes that given the current situation, the International Criminal Court “can document the crimes and violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the Taliban and punish the perpetrators.”
