RASC News Agency: At the recently convened 59th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, a resounding chorus of condemnation echoed from human rights organizations, international advocacy groups, and independent activists over the escalating crisis facing Afghanistani women under Taliban rule. This unprecedented outcry called for the formal acknowledgment of “gender apartheid” as a systematic, state-sponsored policy relentlessly enforced by the Taliban regime an institutionalized campaign designed to erase women and girls from all spheres of public life. Delegates representing a broad coalition of women’s rights defenders spanning Europe, the United States, Asia, and Africa presented irrefutable evidence documenting the Taliban’s widespread, methodical denial of basic human rights to Afghanistani women. These experts unanimously rejected Taliban propaganda framing such restrictions as culturally or security-driven, underscoring instead that this is a deliberate and chilling strategy of gender-based exclusion and social erasure.
A prominent human rights advocate declared, “The Taliban have not merely barred women from education, employment, and mobility they have suffocated their voices, extinguished their agency, and stripped them of their fundamental dignity. Afghanistani women are denied even the most basic right: to exist freely in the public sphere.” Testimonies during the session detailed brutal reprisals against women who dared to defy Taliban dictates, including arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances, and pervasive psychological terror. The deliberate use of such tactics aims to perpetuate a climate of fear and silence, rendering half of Afghanistan’s population invisible and voiceless. In a powerful call to action, session participants urged the international community to adopt unequivocal, rights-based measures to confront this egregious violation of human dignity. A joint statement, endorsed by numerous international organizations, asserted: “The official designation of gender apartheid is the indispensable first step to breaking the cycle of impunity. This issue transcends Afghanistan’s borders; it stands as a critical test of global resolve to uphold fundamental human rights and justice.”
Speakers emphasized that Afghanistani women’s resistance transcends national boundaries, representing a universal struggle to safeguard the integrity of international human rights frameworks. Several state representatives expressed solidarity with these demands, calling on the Human Rights Council to prioritize immediate, sustained intervention. In an emotionally charged moment, Afghanistani women activists addressed the assembly via video link, their voices unwavering despite palpable vulnerability. One poignant plea resonated deeply: “We are alive. We endure. But we cannot bear this burden alone. Should the world abandon us now, tomorrow’s victims will be others.” The session concluded with broad expressions of solidarity and resolve, as observers anticipate that Afghanistan’s gender apartheid will dominate forthcoming Human Rights Council discussions and reports. The international community stands at a crossroads: to either confront the Taliban’s systematic gender oppression or be complicit in its perpetuation.
