The UN’s foremost expert on rights in Afghanistan called on countries Monday to consider classifying “gender apartheid” as an international crime, thereby ensuring that the Taliban is held responsible for its severe and systematic mistreatment of Afghan women. Since the ousting of a government backed by foreign forces in August 2021, the Taliban authorities have implemented strict Sharia law, which includes banning girls from attending secondary school, expelling women from numerous government positions, imposing travel restrictions without male relatives, and enforcing mandatory veiling outside the home.
Richard Bennett, addressing the UN Human Rights Council, emphasized the critical need to address the situation. Presenting his latest report on the situation in Afghanistan, Bennett, the UN special rapporteur, stated that the Taliban’s actions may constitute the crime against humanity of “gender persecution.” He further asserted that grave, systematic, and institutionalized discrimination against women and girls lies at the core of the Taliban’s ideology and rule, raising concerns of potential gender apartheid.
While these serious human rights violations are not explicitly recognized as international crimes, Bennett stressed the necessity for further examination.
The report highlighted that framing gender apartheid as an international crime would emphasize the responsibility of other nations and the broader international community to take effective action in eradicating this practice.
During her address to the council, Shaharzad Akbar, the head of the Rawadari rights group and former head of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, shed light on the plight of Afghan women. She stated that women often describe themselves as being buried alive, existing but facing severe restrictions and punishments for their actions. Akbar further asserted that the Taliban has transformed Afghanistan into a graveyard for the ambitions, dreams, and potential of Afghan women and girls.
Although the UN has already referred to the situation in Afghanistan under the Taliban as “gender-based apartheid,” this term is not currently recognized as one of the gravest international crimes according to the Rome Statute. Bennett and others called on countries to reconsider this classification.
Akbar supported the call and urged the council to endorse the inclusion of gender apartheid in the Draft Convention on Crimes Against Humanity.
The report, jointly drafted by Bennett and the UN working group on discrimination against women and girls, urged countries to mandate a report on gender apartheid as an institutionalized system of discrimination, segregation, humiliation, and exclusion of women and girls. The aim of this mandate is to develop further normative standards and tools, mobilize international legal condemnation, take action to end this practice, and ensure it is not repeated.
Several country representatives expressed their support for the idea, including South African representative Bronwen Levy, who called on the international community to take action against gender apartheid, drawing parallels with the global support extended during South Africa’s struggle against racial apartheid.
SOURCE: Ref Image from News 18
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