GENEVA: The Taliban\u2019s treatment of Afghan women and girls, including their exclusion from parks and gyms as well as schools and universities, may amount to a crime against humanity, a group of UN experts said on Friday.
\nThe assessment by the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan Richard Bennett and nine other UN experts says the treatment of women and girls may amount to \u201cgender persecution\u201d under the Rome Statute to which Afghanistan is a party.
\nResponding to the assessment, Taliban Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi said: \u201cThe current collective punishment of innocent Afghans by the UN sanctions regime all in the name of women rights and equality amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.\u201d
\nThe UN experts said in a statement that women\u2019s confinement to their homes was \u201ctantamount to imprisonment,\u201d adding that it was likely to lead to increased levels of domestic violence and mental health problems. The experts cited the arrest this month of female activist Zarifa Yaqobi and four male colleagues.
\nThey remain in detention, the experts said.
\nThe Taliban took over from a Western-backed government in August 2021. They say they respect women\u2019s rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law.
\nWestern governments have said the Taliban needs to reverse its course on women\u2019s rights, including their U-turn on signals they would open girls\u2019 high schools, for any path toward formal recognition of the Taliban government.
\nSeparately, a spokesperson for the UN human rights office called for the Taliban authorities to immediately halt the use of public floggings in Afghanistan.
\nRavina Shamdasani said the office had documented numerous such incidents this month, including a woman and a man lashed 39 times each for spending time alone together outside of marriage. Balkhi said the Taliban administration considered the statement by the United Nations and others by Western officials were \u201can insult toward Islam and violation of international principals.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GENEVA: The Taliban\u2019s treatment of Afghan women and girls, including their exclusion from parks and gyms as well as schools and universities, may amount to a crime against humanity, a group of UN experts said on Friday. The assessment by the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan Richard Bennett and nine other UN experts says the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297643,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-297633","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n