Zan News: Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, strongly criticized the Taliban’s policies towards Afghan women and girls, stating that "the Taliban's complete embrace of authoritarian misogyny is deeply concerning." File photo: Leif Jørgensen / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 U.S. Ambassador to the UN Criticizes the Taliban’s Authoritarian Misogyny in Afghanistan September 21, 2024 Zan News Zan News: Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, strongly criticized the Taliban’s policies towards Afghan women and girls, stating that "the Taliban's complete embrace of authoritarian misogyny is deeply concerning." In a post on her X (formerly Twitter) account, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield added that the Taliban must immediately end their "misogynistic" practices against women. She emphasized that the normalization of relations with the Taliban depends on their actions, particularly in regard to their treatment of women and girls. These criticisms are being raised while Afghan women are being deprived of their most basic rights by the Taliban. Since their return to power in August 2021, the Taliban have issued around 80 restrictive decrees against women.

Zan News: Christina Markus Lassen, Denmark’s representative to the United Nations, emphasized during a UN Security Council meeting on Monday (March 17) that Afghan women must enjoy full, equal, meaningful, and safe participation in all stages of public life and decision-making processes. File photo: Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain Denmark’s UN Representative: Afghan Women Must Have Full and Equal Participation in Public Life and Decision-Making March 18, 2025 Zan News Zan News: Christina Markus Lassen, Denmark’s representative to the United Nations, emphasized during a UN Security Council meeting on Monday (March 17) that Afghan women must enjoy full, equal, meaningful, and safe participation in all stages of public life and decision-making processes. Markus Lassen, speaking at the meeting focused on Afghanistan, stated that the Taliban have systematically erased women and girls from society and subjected them to harassment. She added: “For Denmark, it is crucial that the human rights situation, particularly women’s rights, be reflected, and the Security Council’s message is clear. The Security Council has shown with one voice that the international community has not forgotten the people of Afghanistan.” Denmark’s representative warned that the continuation of the Taliban’s oppressive policies, including the systematic exclusion of women from social spheres, will exacerbate Afghanistan’s humanitarian and economic crisis. She stressed: “Women, who play an undeniable role in Afghan society, must have full, equal, meaningful, and safe participation in all stages of public life and decision-making.” It is worth noting that this was the second UN Security Council meeting in the past week focused on Afghanistan. During the meeting, the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) was extended for another year. Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, women and girls have faced widespread deprivation of their rights to education, work, and social participation.

Zan News: António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, has stated that he is joining countries and organizations calling on the Taliban to immediately lift all discriminatory restrictions against women and girls. File photo: Leif Jørgensen / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 Guterres Compares the Situation of Women in Afghanistan to the Most Egregious Repressive Systems in History September 29, 2024 Zan News Zan News: António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, has stated that he is joining countries and organizations calling on the Taliban to immediately lift all discriminatory restrictions against women and girls. In a post on X (formerly Twitter) today, Sunday (September 29), Guterres wrote that the current situation in Afghanistan can be compared to some of the most egregious repressive systems in modern history. These remarks by the UN Secretary-General follow a warning from four countries: Canada, Germany, Australia, and the Netherlands, who have issued a joint statement declaring that they will sue the Taliban before the International Court of Justice for violating the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women if the Taliban do not end gender discrimination. Over 20 countries have supported this statement. It's worth noting that Afghanistan is a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, but the Taliban government, which is not recognized as the government of Afghanistan, has not adhered to this convention. Since taking power in Afghanistan, the Taliban have imposed severe restrictions on women and girls. Over the past three years, women and girls in Afghanistan have been deprived of their most basic rights, including education and work, by the group. Human rights experts describe the Taliban's policies against women as "gender apartheid" and warn that the group's actions may be considered crimes of gender persecution. However, the Taliban say that accusing the group of human rights abuses and gender discrimination is "unjustified" and is "false propaganda" spread by a number of women against the group.

Zan News: Zabiullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Taliban, met with several media officials and journalist-supporting organizations in Kabul on Wednesday (13 November), stating that the group is committed to freedom of expression and media activities within the framework of "Islamic principles." Illustration: Zan TV / AI-generated Restrictions on Media; Taliban: Committed to Freedom of Expression Within "Islamic Principles" November 14, 2024 Zan News Zan News: Zabiullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Taliban, met with several media officials and journalist-supporting organizations in Kabul on Wednesday (13 November), stating that the group is committed to freedom of expression and media activities within the framework of "Islamic principles." He said, "The Taliban are aware of the importance of media in the present age and are fully committed to ensuring freedom of expression and media activities within the framework of Islamic principles." Media officials also stated that they are adhering to the Taliban's policies and are working to prevent "negative propaganda" from foreign media. These remarks come at a time when some media outlets have ceased operations due to restrictions imposed by the Taliban, including a ban on publishing images of living beings. Additionally, the Taliban recently halted live political programs in the country and introduced their own experts to media outlets. In the past week, four media outlets in Khost province were shut down due to Taliban pressure, but they resumed operations after some time.

Zan News: António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, stated during a special UN meeting on the situation of women in Afghanistan that the Taliban must immediately revoke their harsh laws against Afghan women and girls. File photo: Leif Jørgensen / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 Guterres: The Taliban Will Not Be Accepted in the Global Community Until They Revoke Discriminatory Laws Against Women September 24, 2024 Zan News Zan News: António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, stated during a special UN meeting on the situation of women in Afghanistan that the Taliban must immediately revoke their harsh laws against Afghan women and girls. On Monday (September 23), Guterres emphasized: "The Taliban will not be accepted in the global community until they abandon gender discrimination." He expressed concern about the condition of women in Afghanistan, noting that Afghan women are not even allowed to sing or raise their voices in public. Guterres added that the Taliban’s oppressive policies against women violate international human rights laws and conventions. The UN Secretary-General stressed that the ongoing restrictions on women hinder Afghanistan's progress, and he called for the reopening of schools above sixth grade. Guterres also reaffirmed that the UN does not tolerate gender discrimination anywhere in the world and added that the organization would continue to engage with and support women in Afghanistan. This comes as the Taliban, after regaining power in Afghanistan, have imposed severe restrictions on the country's women and girls. Over the past three years, women in Afghanistan have been deprived of their most basic rights, including education and employment. Additionally, the Taliban have recently introduced regulations under the title of "Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice," further restricting the freedom and rights of Afghan citizens, particularly women and girls. This new law has sparked widespread national and international reactions.

Zan News: According to a report by The Telegraph, girls in Afghanistan are deprived of access to essential surgical procedures due to discriminatory restrictions imposed by the Taliban. File photo: U.S. Department of Defense / DVIDS / Public Domain Telegraph Newspaper Report: Taliban Deprive Girls of Vital Surgeries March 1, 2025 Zan News Zan News: According to a report by The Telegraph, girls in Afghanistan are deprived of access to essential surgical procedures due to discriminatory restrictions imposed by the Taliban. This report indicates that these strict limitations endanger the health and lives of girls, particularly in life-threatening cases, forcing them to rely on religious prayers and traditional medicines. The Telegraph report refers to recent medical statistics that highlight severe gender inequality in access to surgical care. Based on findings published in the journal of the American College of Surgeons, at Ataturk Hospital in Kabul—which have a operates charitable unit for children—of a total of 1,014 patients under the age of 14 who underwent surgery, 80.5% were boys. This statistic reveals that over 80% of the surgeries performed in this unit were allocated to boys, with girls being significantly deprived of these services. This comes at a time when, following the Taliban's return to power in 2021, stringent restrictions have been imposed on women and girls in various areas, including access to health and surgical services.

Zan News: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has announced that in 2024, approximately 964,259 people across Afghanistan have benefited from primary health services provided by 47 centers supported by the organization. File photo: U.S. Department of Defense / DVIDS / Public Domain Red Cross: Nearly One Million People in Afghanistan Benefited from Our Health Services in 2024 February 11, 2025 Zan News Zan News: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has announced that in 2024, approximately 964,259 people across Afghanistan have benefited from primary health services provided by 47 centers supported by the organization. According to a report released by the committee on Tuesday (February 11), 65 percent of the recipients of these services are women and children. The Red Cross also reported that during this period, 8,788 children suffering from malnutrition were supported through the organization's nutrition programs. Additionally, 215,274 patients received necessary assistance at seven physical rehabilitation centers, and 312,371 doses of routine vaccines were administered to various individuals. This report comes as the Taliban's restrictions on the education of women and girls in medical institutions have heightened concerns about the crisis in Afghanistan's healthcare system. In particular, the reduced presence of women in healthcare facilities could have serious implications for the delivery of services to mothers and children.

"My father sold me to feed his stomach." "The pain of the 100 lashes the Taliban gave me in front of the public is engraved in my brain, mind, and bones." "My father is more cruel than the Taliban. I am sick, I weave carpets to earn money to go to the doctor, but my father says, why should a girl go to the doctor?" These are the quotes of Afghan girls and women who are experiencing their tragic lives under the shadow of the gun and the so-called Islamic regime of the Taliban. File photo: Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain Afghanistan; Geography of Violence Against Women November 26, 2024 Ariahn Raya "My father sold me to feed his stomach." "The pain of the 100 lashes the Taliban gave me in front of the public is engraved in my brain, mind, and bones." "My father is more cruel than the Taliban. I am sick, I weave carpets to earn money to go to the doctor, but my father says, why should a girl go to the doctor?" These are the quotes of Afghan girls and women who are experiencing their tragic lives under the shadow of the gun and the so-called Islamic regime of the Taliban. November 25th is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women; but, in Afghanistan, violence in every sense has rooted deeply in every aspect of women's lives, intertwined with every moment of their existence, to the extent that the phenomenon of violence has become an inseparable part of the lives of women and girls in this country. Setara, a 15-year-old girl from Herat, once dreamed of becoming a pilot, hoping that one day she would soar above Afghanistan in a military aircraft, gazing at the land below. Every morning, she would tuck her books under her arm and head to school. However, now, with a voice filled with sorrow, a throat choked with emotion, and a body trembling from the pain and suffering, she says that with the rise of the Taliban and the ban on girls' education, not only has she not achieved her dream, but she has also experienced childhood motherhood, divorce, widowhood, and the burden of being the breadwinner for her family. She, just as she holds the strands of black wool, like her life, to weave them into a corner of her carpet, narrates her life’s hardships: "The rhythm of life did not dance to our tune. I was in seventh grade when the Taliban declared it forbidden for us to go to school. I, like thousands of other sisters, became a housebound girl. My father said I had to marry my cousin. I refused, but by force, he made me marry. Truly, my father sold me to fill his stomach. Seven months passed since my wedding, and he divorced me." Tears and crying no longer allow Setara peace. As she holds a corner of her scarf with her right hand and wipes away her tears, she says: "The Taliban showed no mercy to me, it was the people. But why did my father, who I was a part of, do this to me? Right now, neither my father provides food and expenses for me and my child, nor do I have anyone else. It has been two and a half years since my divorce and marriage." Setara, who once shone like a star among dozens of other girls and was the top student from first to seventh grade, now carries the sorrow of not having a guardian along with the responsibility of her eight-month-old child. Although Afghanistan has long been a place of violence for girls and women, with the return of the Taliban to power, life for millions of women and girls in Afghanistan has once again turned into a life in hell. Over three years since the Taliban’s gender-apartheid rule and the imposition of restrictions on work, activity, education, and learning for women and girls, the group has adopted its official and systematic policy of misogyny. Ayla Mohammadi, a 16-year-old girl and a resident of Daikundi province, still spends her nights haunted by nightmares of prison and the Taliban's whip, two years after the bitter reality of being publicly flogged. She says that for the crime of going to the Daikundi market with her cousin, she was arrested, imprisoned, and publicly flogged by the Taliban: "My father is in Iran, and I had no one else. I went to the market with my cousin to buy household items, but the Islamic Emirate forces arrested me, accusing me of going out with a non-mahram. They told me he was my boyfriend. We were imprisoned for two months, and every day they beat us with cables and whips." Ayla, with tearful eyes, continues her words and adds: "They would tie my hands with handcuffs. I was in an underground prison. After two months, they took me to a public square in front of all the people and lashed me 100 times for the crime of adultery. The burning sensation from the 100 lashes that the Taliban gave me in front of the public is engraved in my mind, my thoughts, and my bones. I will never forget how they unjustly tarnished my reputation." Aisha, another girl deprived of education and suffering from depression, has sought refuge in a carpet weaving workshop to find the funds for her treatment. However, she says that not only is she facing the injustice imposed on women and girls by the Taliban, but the oppression from her father is no less than that of the Taliban. "Last year, I went to school for the last time. When we finished sixth grade, the Taliban said we couldn’t go to school anymore. I became a housebound girl and fell into depression. I always cry. I’m sick, and for my treatment, I came to weave carpets. But my father takes the two thousand Afghanis I earn in a month. My father is even more cruel than the Taliban. I’m sick, weaving carpets so I can see a doctor, but my father says, ‘Why should a girl go to the doctor?’" While girls and women share bitter and harrowing accounts of the violence they face from the Taliban and domestic abuse, this year, on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls, various domestic and international organizations, including the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, Amnesty International, the Afghan Center for Legal Studies and Research, and protest movements, once again called for an end to the violence against women and girls in Afghanistan in their statements.

Zan News: Gordon Brown, the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, has stated that he is confident the UN will recognize the suppression of women’s and girls’ rights in Afghanistan as “gender apartheid.” File photo: Leif Jørgensen / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 Gordon Brown: The UN Will Recognize Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan October 1, 2024 Zan News Zan News: Gordon Brown, the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, has stated that he is confident the UN will recognize the suppression of women’s and girls’ rights in Afghanistan as “gender apartheid.” In a press conference, Mr. Brown said, “The restrictions against girls and women in Afghanistan are a clear form of oppression that leads to gender apartheid.” He called on the international community, especially Muslim-majority countries, to unite to end the oppression of girls and women in Afghanistan. These remarks come as Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, and Australia recently issued a joint statement warning that if the Taliban do not stop gender discrimination, they will file a complaint against the group at the International Court of Justice for violating the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. More than 20 countries have supported this statement so far. Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has also recently supported efforts by these countries to refer the Taliban’s policies against Afghan women and girls to the International Court. It is worth noting that since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, they have imposed severe restrictions on women and girls. Women’s and human rights activists consider the group’s policies towards women as gender apartheid and demand its recognition and criminalization.

Zan News: Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, during the UN Human Rights Council session on Tuesday (3 March), expressed deep concern over the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan, describing the restrictions imposed on them as 'gender apartheid.' File photo: Leif Jørgensen / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 Volker Turk: Afghan Women Are Under an Unprecedented System of Discrimination in the World March 4, 2025 Zan News Zan News: Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, during the UN Human Rights Council session on Tuesday (3 March), expressed deep concern over the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan, describing the restrictions imposed on them as 'gender apartheid.' He stressed that these policies are carried out with the support of the Taliban administration and that Afghan women and girls are subjected to a system of discrimination that is unprecedented in the world today. During the session, Mr. Turk voiced his worries about Afghanistan's long-term future and the self-inflicted harm the country faces. Referring to the global state of women's rights, he noted that in various nations—ranging from autocracies to democracies—women and girls are deprived of their rights in different ways, and this crisis demands serious attention. Volker Turk also addressed the human rights situation in Iran at the session, mentioning the temporary suspension of the hijab law in that country. He urged Iranian authorities to completely and permanently abolish this law and to reform other measures that are 'discriminatory' against women and girls. Additionally, he highlighted the significant increase in executions in Iran and called on Iranian officials to immediately halt the use of the death penalty.