German Foreign Minister: The Taliban are Creating a Social Dungeon for Half of Afghanistan’s Population

The session was held on Tuesday, March 4, in Berlin, with the participation of Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, and several Afghan civil society and women’s rights activists.

Baerbock, addressing the Taliban’s restrictions on women and girls in Afghanistan, said, “The Taliban are truly building a social dungeon for 50 percent of the population of Afghanistan, simply because they are women.”

She added, “These actions may be defined as social disappearance, crimes against humanity, or gender-based persecution. I know many of you refer to it as gender apartheid, but no single term can fully describe these crimes.”

The German Foreign Minister told to Afghan women, “We will not forget you. This session is about you. We hear your voice, and we stand with you.”

Meanwhile, Australia, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands warned the Taliban in October of this year that if gender-based discrimination in Afghanistan does not stop, the group will be sued at the International Court of Justice for violating the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Following this warning, 25 other countries also expressed their support for this action, and efforts are now underway to begin this legal process.