The 31st of August 2021 marked a turning point in both the international arena as well as the “special relationship” between the United States of America and Afghanistan, before this ground-breaking swift in foreign policy, much progress was made in the area such as the ratification of multiple international human rights instruments, alongside the Geneva Conventions and the creation of the ongoing intra-Afghan peace negotiations within the Afghan Government which apparently, have failed to include victim groups, especially women, creating a key obstacle to lasting peace and contributing to widespread violence against civilians.
As a matter of fact, since the recent American withdrawal from Afghanistan, the situation escalated quickly and the installing of the Taliban government made it internationally clear that those who paid the highest price were civilians, especially women and girls.
As soon as President Biden made the announcement regarding the disengagement of his troops, the Taliban military forces managed to advance across the country conquering it district by district until regaining complete control of it.
Accompanying their great comeback there was a long list of discriminatory restrictions, particularly on women, that were reinstated, for instance in areas under their control, women are not allowed to leave their home without a male relative by their side anymore, moreover, many of Afghani’s daughters are currently being forced to marry Taliban fighters alongside many other controlling limitations that were enforced recalling the impositions of the previous rule in the 1990s when education and working were only a distant dream for afghani females.
It’s obvious that the current and future generations of Afghans, particularly women, are most likely going to suffer widespread and systematic human rights violations since, after seizing the country, the Taliban stated multiple times that women’s rights would be respected “within the framework of Islamic law” but the relative preferred kind is the stricter one, globally known as the Sharia law.
As a matter of fact, since taking power working women have been told to stay at home until further notice, and Taliban fighters have actively taken action against women by beating them for protesting against the newly installed all-male interim administration.
Furthermore, the ministry for women’s affair has been recently shut down and immediately replaced with a department that once enforced strict religious doctrines, other than that, by the time school opened only boys and male teachers were allowed back into classrooms and, under the Taliban rule, male and female students can no longer share studying spaces or if they do, they must be divided by a curtain while studying or attending classes.
A powerful statement has been the one of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission which claimed that the government has been unable to fulfill its duties since the Taliban’s takeover.
For the past twenty years, American troops had their military bases installed in Afghanistan, but the country has passed from one foreign hand to another for forty years inevitably losing sight of their tradition and values which the Taliban are trying to bring back stronger than before, one can say that the only thing that remained a constant has been the lack of peace.
The newly installed Afghan government obviously failed to take action against the violence that women and girls have experienced in the recent period of time consequently faulting in abiding by the Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW) law, which derives from the 2001 international reconstruction of Afghanistan, leaving the minority without protection and justice, the growing Taliban-dominated government also threatens constitutional and international law protection for Afghan women’s fundamental rights.
Decreed in 2009 and reaffirmed in 2018, the EVAW law signals twenty-two acts of abuse towards women as criminal offenses, this legislative act contributed to huge progress during the years in this sensitive field on paper, however full implementation of the law has been difficult due to the many prosecutors, police officers as well as judges that continuously hindered the effective application of the said, furthermore, the stigma associated with filing a complaint still remain alongside the fear of reprisals and physical and psychological pressure to withdraw it, needless to say, Police are particularly reluctant to arrest husbands accused of violence against their wives even though since 2018 “honor” is not legally considered a defense in a murder case anymore, in spite of this “honor killings” remain prevalent.
The international community, in order to stand by the international principles of accountability, justice, and the rule of law, must take action with the aim to hold Afghanistan accountable for its war crimes, comprehensive of multiple and perpetuating violations of human rights across generations, the need to seek justice does not stop to the craving of an effective remedy for the current victims but it would also inspire new and younger generations to build a more tolerating and free social system, on this matter, on July the 1st 2021 national and international human rights organizations addressed the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights calling for investigations into the attacks stating:
“The recent happenings in Afghanistan regarding violence, particularly towards women and girls, demonstrates the importance that peace negotiations continue. Commitments to women’s rights and the visibility of women in the peace process is a fundamental foundation for accountability and meaningful progress. If the international community does not commit to the principles and purposes of the United Nations to maintain peace and security and promote human rights, there is a real risk of disastrous human costs”.
For the coming period of time, the world will stand by and watch if changes will be made and if once and for all Afghani women will be able to aspire to a fair justice system.
References:
Afghanistan: Life under Taliban rule one month on, available at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58550640
Women’s rights in Afghanistan, available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/c97e668pdnwt/womens-rights-in-afghanistan
The world must not look away as the Taliban sexually enslaves women and girls, available at:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-16/afghanistan-taliban-women-and-girls/100379914
Women are targeted and endangered in Afghanistan Today, available at: https://loneconservative.com/2021/09/16/women-are-targeted-and-endangered-in-afghanistan-today/
Taliban tell Afghan women to stay home from work because soldiers are “not trained” to respect them, available at:
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/08/25/asia/taliban-women-workplaces-afghanistan-intl/index.html
Standing with Afghanistan: Women’s Rights and the Role of International Law, available at:
Afghanistan women’s rights are “red line”, UN rights chief tells States, available at:
https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/08/1098322
Women and international peace and security in Afghanistan, available at:
https://www.monash.edu/law/events/archive/women-and-international-peace-and-security-in-afghanistan
Afghanistan: Justice System Failing Women, available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/08/05/afghanistan-justice-system-failing-women
By The European Institute for International Law and International Relations.
