The Taliban’s recent ban on UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett from entering Afghanistan, coinciding with a surge in reports of severe human rights violations, indicates the regime’s deepening isolation and commitment to a hard-nosed agenda. As global condemnation swells, the Taliban’s actions reveal a widening void between their empty pledges and the harsh realities on the ground, casting a gloom over the future of a nation already gripped by fear and oppression. The regime’s human rights record, already under scrutiny, has been further criticised by various rights panels. For instance, a group of 31 human rights experts, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council last year, which included Bennett, highlighted the growing gap between the promises made by Afghanistan’s de facto authorities and their increasingly oppressive practices.
Rights panel point to blatant violations
These HR experts condemned the Taliban’s policies, which led to a systematic and shocking rollback of numerous human rights, including the rights to education, work, and freedoms of expression, assembly and association. They cited credible reports of summary executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, torture, and displacement. The most vulnerable groups, including women and girls, ethnic and religious minorities, people with disabilities, displaced persons, and LGBTQ+ individuals, have been particularly hard hit.
Despite Taliban’s assurances that restrictions, particularly on education, would be temporary, the on ground realities tell a different story. The experts have pointed out that discrimination against women and girls has intensified significantly over the past year. The Taliban’s policies have subjected women and girls to extreme domination, which, experts argue, constitutes gender persecution – a crime against humanity.
One of the most shocking examples of this persecution is the Taliban’s prohibition of girls’ education. Since their return to power in 2021, the Taliban placed sweeping restrictions on women’s access to education, making Afghanistan the only country in the world to prohibit girls aged 12 and older from attending school. According to a UNESCO report, at least 1.4 million girls have been deliberately denied access to secondary education since 2021, an increase of 300,000 since April 2023, as more girls reach the age of 12 every year.
The report further reveals that nearly 2.5 million girls in Afghanistan – accounting for 80% of school-age girls – are now unable to access education due to these bans. Access to primary education has also sharply declined, with 1.1 million fewer Afghan girls and boys attending school under Taliban rule compared to 2019. The UNESCO report attributes this drop in enrolment to the Taliban’s decision to prohibit female teachers from teaching boys, exacerbating an already critical teacher shortage. The lack of incentive for parents to send their children to school amid an increasingly difficult socio-economic context has also contributed to this alarming trend.
The implications of this educational crisis are far-reaching. Experts have warned that the massive drop-out rate could lead to an increase in child labour, early marriage, and other harmful practices. The situation is similarly dire in higher education, where enrollment has decreased by 53% since 2021. This decline will likely result in a shortage of graduates trained for highly skilled jobs, worsening Afghanistan’s development challenges.
In addition to the educational restrictions, Afghan women have been systematically excluded from public life. In December 2023, women were barred from working with humanitarian organisations, a restriction later expanded to include UN agencies. The Taliban have also prohibited girls from attending secondary schools, and in some provinces, girls over the age of 10 are reportedly no longer allowed to attend school. Women have even been denied the ability to gather in their own spaces, such as beauty salons, which have been ordered to shut down.
Suppression of freedom amid humanitarian crisis
Taliban’s broader agenda includes the suppression of media freedom and expression. Since their return to power, they have systematically dismantled Afghanistan’s media space, forcing over 70% of outlets to shut down. Journalists face constant threats, harassment, and even torture, leading many to flee the country. This exodus has decimated independent reporting, leaving the Afghan population isolated from the outside world.
Moreover, the new regime has reintroduced cruel and undignified punishments such as stoning, flogging and burying individuals under walls, in clear violation of international human rights standards. The notion of a ‘reformed’ Taliban has been exposed as a fallacy, with their actions demonstrating a continued commitment to a rigid and authoritarian interpretation of Islamic law.
In response to these developments, the UN and the international community have issued strong condemnations of the Taliban’s human rights abuses. A six-point appeal by experts calls for the immediate reversal of the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls, including granting them all human rights such as freedom of movement, participation in public and political life, and access to education. The appeal also urges the Taliban to end reprisals against former government officials, halt arbitrary detentions and torture, protect civil society and journalists, and enforce measures to prevent discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities.
The experts have also highlighted the dire humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, which has worsened due to an economic downturn, leaving an estimated 16 million children without basic food or healthcare. This crisis has fuelled harmful practices such as child marriage, exploitation, and even the sale of children and organs. Nearly 30 million Afghans are in need of assistance, but a $3.2 billion UN humanitarian plan faces a critical funding gap of $1.3 billion, threatening the continuation of essential services like community-based classes, food assistance and healthcare.
New decree on ‘virtue’ and ‘vice’
Taliban’s actions, particularly their recent enactment of the law on propagation of virtue and prevention of vice, reflect their deep-seated ideological convictions and oppressive governance. This law, which comprises a preamble, four chapters, and 35 articles, imposes severe restrictions on individual freedoms, particularly targeting women. Under the direction of Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban have formalised a legal framework that dictates the behaviour and rights of Afghan citizens, enforced by the powerful Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. Women must be fully veiled, face strict gender segregation and are banned from public expression, effectively silencing them in all aspects of life.
Typically, laws are grounded in legitimate legal foundations, aligned with constitutions, societal customs, and, in Islamic contexts, Sharia law. However, Taliban’s legal decrees, including this new law, fail to meet these standards. The regime operates without a constitution and disregards Afghanistan’s traditional customs, instead imposing a distorted version of Islam on the population. These laws lack democratic legitimacy and transparency, with no public input in their creation, reflecting the Taliban’s focus on consolidating power rather than addressing the country’s real needs.
The new law imposes severe restrictions on individual freedoms, particularly targeting women. Central to the Taliban’s ideology is the belief that women are the root of societal problems, particularly in Afghanistan, and that their ‘reform’ is essential for societal happiness. This perspective has led to the harsh regulation of women’s lives under the new law, which mandates strict dress codes and imposes other severe restrictions that are likely to result in significant mental health issues, including depression and anxiety.
Article 13 of the law exemplifies Taliban’s draconian approach, mandating that a woman’s entire body must be covered, including her voice, which is considered part of her ‘awrah’ (the parts of her body that should be concealed). This article, along with the broader law, is designed to curtail individual freedoms, with women bearing the brunt of these oppressive measures. The law’s enforcement is entrusted to the Muhtasib, individuals granted unchecked power over every aspect of citizens’ lives, from social interactions to economic activities.
Article 18 empowers the Muhtasib to intervene in business practices, targeting traders, farmers, and others to ensure compliance with the Taliban’s strict code of conduct. Article 17 extends this authority to media and information dissemination, allowing the Muhtasib to oversee and potentially censor public communication. Article 19 further broadens their reach, giving them the power to monitor recreational and leisure activities, ostensibly to protect citizens from moral failings.
The law also imposes severe restrictions on women’s travel, penalising drivers who transport women without a male guardian or without proper hijab, as defined by the Taliban. This pervasive surveillance and control create an environment where personal freedoms are deeply infringed upon. Article 21 grants the Muhtasib the authority to monitor private spaces, including baths, enforcing adherence to the Taliban’s stringent regulations. Even more troubling is Article 22, paragraph 4, which allows these enforcers to interfere in the sexual relations between husbands and wives to ensure they conform to the Taliban’s interpretation of what is ‘correct.’
This extensive surveillance extends to personal technology, with the monitoring of phones, computers, and other electronic devices being common under Taliban rule. The new law further institutionalises these invasions of privacy, leaving individuals feeling perpetually watched and deprived of personal space. The implications are profound, as these measures strip citizens of their autonomy, subjecting even the most intimate aspects of their lives to Taliban control.
Article 4 mandates the law’s application across all offices, public places, and individuals in Afghanistan. While Article 23 limits the Muhtasib’s responsibilities toward non-Muslims (dhimmis) and foreigners seeking protection (musta’mins) to prohibiting public immoral acts, the law applies with equal severity to foreigners, including diplomats and tourists. This effectively subjects all residents and visitors to the same oppressive regulations, regardless of their background.
Moreover, the law’s impact extends to medical practices, with Article 18, paragraph 7, prohibiting kidney and liver transplants, procedures widely accepted in modern medicine. This ban could exacerbate the suffering of those in need of such treatments.
The future of governance and gender justice in Afghanistan under the Taliban’s rule appears bleak, as the regime continues to entrench its oppressive and authoritarian agenda. With laws that systematically strip women of their rights and freedoms, Taliban’s approach has deepened gender-based discrimination and human rights abuses, casting a dark shadow over the nation’s prospects. The UN calls this a ‘gender apartheid.’ However, the international community’s condemnation, though strong, has yet to influence the regime’s policies, leaving Afghan women, girls, and other vulnerable groups to face a grim reality where their autonomy and dignity are relentlessly undermined. The road ahead for Afghanistan is fraught with challenges as Taliban’s governance model seems poised to further isolate the country from the global community while perpetuating cycles of repression and injustice.
K.M. Seethi is Director, Inter University Centre for Social Science Research and Extension (IUCSSRE), Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU), Kerala. He also served as ICSSR Senior Fellow, Senior Professor of International Relations and Dean of Social Sciences at MGU.