Mr. President,
We thank the Special Rapporteur for his comprehensive report on the Taliban’s systematic violation of women’s rights, including the right to health.
The Taliban have recently passed a new criminal procedure code that further deepens repression and discrimination in Afghanistan. The new law defines Muslims exclusively as adherents of the Hanafi jurisprudence and labels other religious groups, including Shia, as heretics. It prescribes strict punishments to silence dissent and recognizes only “excessive” beating as domestic violence against women, leaving survivors of other forms of abuse with no protection or pathways to justice.
We urge UN member states to listen to the women and girls of Afghanistan, center their voices, and do more to protect their rights and advance accountability for gender persecution.
The new mechanism that this Council created last October will be a key tool in holding perpetrators of grave abuses to account. Member states and the UN leadership should urgently operationalize it and ensure it has the necessary resources to fulfill its mandate.
In addition, states should recognize gender apartheid as a crime against humanity, support and protect ICC efforts to prosecute those responsible for gender persecution and other grave international crimes in Afghanistan, support the initiative to hold the Taliban accountable for CEDAW violations at the ICJ, and pursue criminal cases through universal jurisdiction.
Thank you.
