CEDAW Committee Session in Geneva; Emphasis on Recognizing Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan and Holding the Taliban Accountable

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The session for presenting Afghanistan’s fourth periodic report to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was held on Tuesday (24 June) at the UN Human Rights Council headquarters in Geneva. A number of prominent figures including Nasir Ahmad Andisha, Afghanistan’s Permanent Representative in Geneva, Dr. Sima Samar, Shukria Barakzai, Fawzia Koofi, and other women’s rights activists were present at the session.

Participants, referring to the widespread restrictions against women and girls in Afghanistan, called for the current situation to be recognized as “gender apartheid.” According to them, the ruling policies in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan have resulted in the systematic exclusion of women from public, educational, legal, and economic spheres.

Nasir Ahmad Andisha said that Afghanistan is a committed member of the CEDAW Committee, having joined in 2003, but following the Taliban’s return to power, the country has faced severe setbacks in the area of women’s rights.

Fawzia Koofi, former member of parliament, stated that the exclusion of women from the domestic arena has extended to international platforms as well, and women are now regarded as second-class citizens in Afghanistan.

Shukria Barakzai, former member of the National Assembly, added that the Taliban’s actions against women are in violation of international law and the restrictions are justified with cultural excuses. She called for urgent international action to support women both inside and outside Afghanistan.

Dr. Sima Samar also said that the silence of guns does not mean peace in Afghanistan, and the continuation of the current situation may lead to the normalization of human rights violations. She emphasized that with the Taliban’s return to power, all mechanisms established over the past 20 years to prevent violence against women and support vulnerable women have been dismantled.

Zarqa Yaftali, Negara Mehrdad, and Farrokh Laqa Ownchizadah also emphasized in their speeches the situation of rural women, minorities, forced marriages, torture, arbitrary detentions, and the structural exclusion of women from social participation.

Participants in the session called for holding the Taliban accountable for their international obligations, including under the CEDAW convention, and stressed the need to support women at risk, particularly in asylum and resettlement processes.