Geneva, February 27 — UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has strongly condemned a new decree by Afghanistan’s Taliban-led authorities that he says effectively expands and legitimises violence against women and children, including within households.
Speaking at the Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on Afghanistan during the 61st session of the Human Rights Council, Türk described Afghanistan as “a graveyard for human rights,” pointing to a cascade of edicts issued since the Taliban took power in 2021. He highlighted successive measures that have barred women from secondary and higher education, excluded them from most employment, and restricted their access to healthcare and public life, leaving many socially and economically marginalised.
Türk denounced last month’s decree, signed by the Taliban leader, for broadening the application of the death penalty, legitimising corporal punishment, and criminalising criticism of the de facto authorities — steps he said further erode women’s freedoms. Taken together with strict limits on movement, education and work, he warned these actions amount to systemic persecution and gender-based oppression comparable to apartheid.
The High Commissioner also raised alarm that Afghan women, including UN staff and contractors, have reportedly been barred from UN premises since September 2025. He described severe obstacles confronting women in media, public service and humanitarian work, and said censorship, mandatory dress codes, guardianship rules, public executions, limits on expression and nationwide communication blackouts have all compounded the risks faced by women and girls.
“The de facto authorities have, in effect, criminalised the presence of women and girls in public life. They are banned from secondary education and above and from most employment. Discrimination affects their healthcare, their access to civic space, and their freedom of movement and expression,” Türk said.
Türk cited the Law on the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice as being used recently to enforce strict hijab rules, require female accompaniment by male guardians, prohibit music and images of living beings, mandate prayers and even to crack down on men’s beards.
He urged the Taliban to repeal discriminatory laws and decrees; ensure women and girls can access education, healthcare, employment and public life; allow UN and humanitarian personnel to operate freely; impose a moratorium on executions; end corporal punishment; halt arbitrary arrests; and protect freedom of expression and media rights, particularly for women journalists.
Türk warned that excluding and oppressing women undermines Afghanistan’s social cohesion and development, and called on the international community to hold the de facto authorities accountable. “Women and girls are the present and the future, and the country cannot thrive without them,” he said.
(This report is based on a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility for its accuracy or completeness.)
