Human Rights Watch Calls for an International Body to Monitor Women's Rights Abuses in Afghanistan

In a statement released today, Monday (September 9), the organization stated that since the Taliban came to power in August 2021, the human rights situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated alarmingly.

Human Rights Watch emphasized that the Taliban's repressive policies have targeted women and girls, turning Afghanistan into one of the world's largest women's rights crises. The statement highlighted that Afghanistan is the only country where girls are barred from education above the sixth grade, and women are banned from universities and many sectors of employment.

The organization also pointed to severe restrictions on women's freedom of movement, participation in sports, and presence in society, including bans on visiting parks and singing in public.

Human Rights Watch called on the UN Human Rights Council to create a dedicated mechanism for collecting and preserving evidence related to violations of women's rights. This mechanism should have the capacity to investigate, preserve evidence, and identify those responsible for human rights abuses to ensure justice for decades of injustice against Afghan women.

This request comes amid a deepening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, where millions of people face extreme hunger and poverty. Additionally, a coalition of 90 domestic and international human rights organizations has also called for the creation of an independent body to investigate human rights violations, particularly those against women and girls in Afghanistan.