Afghanistan Peace CampaignThe New York Times
Four countries on Wednesday accused the Taliban of “gross and systematic” violations of the U.N. treaty on women’s rights in Afghanistan, saying they would take the group to the world’s highest court because of its harsh, widely criticized restrictions on women.
The plan was described by foreign ministers from Germany, Australia, Canada and the Netherlands at the United Nations in New York, where the General Assembly was meeting on Wednesday. The ministers said they intended to take the Taliban to the International Court of Justice, the top U.N. court.
The treaty, regarded as an international bill of rights for women, was signed in 1979 and includes most of the world’s nations, including Afghanistan, which joined in 2003. (The United States is one of the few countries that has not ratified it.)
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban has systematically rolled back many of the rights that women won during the 20-year U.S. occupation. Last month, the Taliban released a 114-page manifesto codifying its restrictions on women, which include barring them from secondary schools or universities, working for aid organizations and traveling any significant distance without a male relative. Human rights monitors say Afghanistan is the most restrictive country in the world for women, and the only country in the world where girls are barred from education beyond the sixth grade.
At the United Nations on Wednday, the four foreign ministers condemned what they called “the gross and systematic human rights violations and abuses in Afghanistan, particularly the gender-based discrimination of women and girls.”
They said “we have repeatedly urged Afghanistan and the Taliban” to comply with international law and to lift all restrictions on the rights of women and girls, including on their right to education. “However, the situation has not improved; to the contrary, it continues to worsen.”
If the case is heard, it would be the first time the U.N.’s top court considered the alleged violation of the treaty, which forbids all forms of discrimination against women.
“This is momentous; it will give Afghan women a new important platform before world opinion and make them protagonists in their struggle,” said Rangita de Silva de Alwis, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and an adviser to Afghan women activists.
The court, based in The Hague, was established by the founding charter of the United Nations in 1945 to settle disputes between member states. The court typically has a panel of 15 judges, elected by the U.N. General Assembly and Security Council.
Its decisions are legally binding with no possibility of appeal, but the body has few means of enforcing them, and the Taliban could ignore the process.
The formal complaint against the Taliban cannot be filed immediately. The court’s rules require a formal notification that there is a dispute, followed by a six-month period in which the parties are to try to settle their dispute.
But Afghan women in Europe and North America said they were thrilled the process had been set in motion. Many have joined a Coalition for Justice, which includes more than 100 expat Afghan women who have become activists for those in Afghanistan.
“Today’s action was a great move and we are very grateful to the countries who listened to the women,” said Ghizal Haress, a lawyer who was the official ombudsperson dealing with government corruption before she fled Kabul in 2021. Ms Haress was among the women whose activism led the four governments to bring a case against the Taliban.
The activists described lobbying European lawmakers, organizing conferences and holding demonstrations.
“We knew what was coming as soon as the Taliban arrived,” said Ms. Haress, now a scholar at York University in Toronto. “But we are now making sure that the many women are not forgotten who live under a system of violence and gender apartheid.”