Latest news with #genderApartheid
New York Times
08-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
I.C.C. Seeks Arrests of Taliban Leaders Over Persecution of Women
Judges at the International Criminal Court on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for the leader of Afghanistan's Taliban government and its chief justice, citing draconian restrictions against women and girls as evidence of crimes against humanity. The Taliban have 'specifically targeted girls and women by reason of their gender, depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms,' the court said in a statement detailing the arrest warrants against Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban's supreme leader, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, the country's top justice official. Since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, they have mostly erased women from public life, preventing them from speaking outside, accessing most workplaces or going to public spaces like parks, gyms and salons. Women cannot travel long distances without being accompanied by a male relative, and they must be covered from head to toe when outside the home. Girls cannot attend school beyond sixth grade. These measures, affecting half of the country's 41 million people, have made Afghanistan the most restrictive country in the world for women, experts say. Some accuse the Taliban of orchestrating a 'gender apartheid.' The court's judges said that the policies imposed on the population had led to murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and forced disappearances. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
BBC News
08-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
ICC issues arrest warrants for Taliban leaders for persecuting women and girls
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for two of the Taliban's top leaders, accusing them of persecuting women and girls in Hague-based court said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and chief justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani had committed a crime against humanity in their treatment of women and girls since seizing power in that time, they have implemented a series of restrictions, including on girls over the age of 12 accessing an education, and barring women from many jobs. There have also been restrictions on how far a woman can travel without a male chaperone, and decrees on them raising their voices in public. In a statement, the ICC said that "while the Taliban have imposed certain rules and prohibitions on the population as a whole, they have specifically targeted girls and women by reason of their gender, depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms".The United Nations has previously described the restrictions as being tantamount to "gender apartheid". The Taliban government has said it respects women's rights in accordance with their interpretation of Afghan culture and Islamic became the supreme commander of the Taliban in 2016, and has been leader of the so-called Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan since US-led forces left the country in August 2021. In the 1980s, he participated in Islamist groups fighting against the Soviet military campaign in was a close associate of Taliban founder Mullah Omar and served as a negotiator on behalf of the Taliban during discussions with US representatives in 2020. The ICC investigates and brings to justice those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, intervening when national authorities cannot or will not it does not have its own police force and so relies on member states to carry out any prospect of warrants being issued for the two Taliban leaders was first raised in January, when the ICC's top prosecutor, Karim Khan, alleged they were "criminally responsible for persecuting Afghan girls and women, as well as persons whom the Taliban perceived as not conforming with their ideological expectations of gender identity or expression, and persons whom the Taliban perceived as allies of girls and women".At the time, the Taliban's foreign ministry responded to the threat of arrests, saying the ICC had turned a blind eye to what it described as "numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by foreign forces and their local allies", referring to US-led forces present in the country before Rights Watch welcomed the arrest warrants for the two Taliban leaders. It called on the ICC "to extend the reach of justice to victims of other Taliban abuses, as well as victims of the Islamic State of Khorasan Province forces, former Afghan security forces and US personnel". "Addressing cycles of violence and impunity in Afghanistan requires that victims of all perpetrators have equal access to justice," it said in a statement.
The Guardian
07-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘They threw us out like garbage': Iran rushes deportation of 4 million Afghans before deadline
Women forced back to living under the Taliban's increasingly repressive regime have spoken of their desperation as Iran accelerates the deportation of an estimated 4 million Afghans who had fled to the country. In the past month alone, more than 250,000 people, including thousands of lone women, have returned to Afghanistan from Iran, according to the UN's migration agency. The numbers accelerated before Sunday's deadline set by the Iranian regime for all undocumented Afghans to leave the country. The Taliban, who returned to power in 2021, have been accused of enforcing a system of gender apartheid in Afghanistan. Women returning to the country must live with oppressive laws that ban them from showing their faces, speaking or appearing in public, as well as being excluded from most jobs and education. Anyone caught breaking these rules faces public flogging. Speaking to the Guardian and Zan Times, an Afghan news agency, at a border crossing in southern Afghanistan, Sahar*, 40, is travelling with five children and says she has no idea where she will live now. A widow originally from Baghlan, a city in northern Afghanistan, she had been living in Iran for more than a decade. She ran a small tailoring workshop and had recently put down a deposit on a home. Last week, she says she was detained, taken with her children from a refugee camp near the southern city of Shiraz, and deported. 'I didn't even get to pack their clothes. They came in the middle of the night. I begged them to give me just two days to collect my things. But they didn't listen. They threw us out like garbage.' Until recently, women were rarely forcibly returned from Iran. Men, often undocumented labourers, were more likely to face arrest and deportation. But Afghan border officials say there has been a recent shift, with at least 100 unaccompanied women deported through a single border point in Nimroz province, in the south of the country, between March and May this year. Returning to Afghanistan without a male guardian puts women in direct conflict with Taliban law, which prohibits women from travelling alone. Many of those returned from Iran find themselves stranded at the border, unable to continue their journey. With temperatures now reaching 52C, local officials say that a number of people have died during the forced crossings. Border officials say at least 13 bodies have arrived in the past two weeks, but it was not clear whether they had died of heat and thirst or were killed during Israel's airstrikes in Iran. Those arriving at border crossings in southern Afghanistan say they are thirsty, hungry and exhausted, having walked for hours under the sun. Most have no belongings, documentation or plan about where to live. 'From Shiraz to Zahedan [close to the Afghan border], they took everything from us. My bank card had 15 million tomans (£110). They charged 50,000 tomans for a bottle of water, 100,000 for a cold sandwich. And if you didn't have it, your child went without,' says Sahar. The Taliban says it offers short-term shelter and transport assistance to women deported without a mahram (an adult male who can accompany her on a journey). But many returnees say they received no such help. Under Taliban policy, most single women are barred from receiving land, travelling alone to their home province, or accessing employment. Sign up to Global Dispatch Get a different world view with a roundup of the best news, features and pictures, curated by our global development team after newsletter promotion Sahar says her options in Afghanistan are bleak. She has an elderly mother in Baghlan, but no home, no job and no husband, meaning, under Taliban rules, she cannot travel alone or work legally. 'I asked for land [from the Taliban], anything to start again. They said, 'You're a woman, you have no mahram. You don't qualify.'' Many end up relying on extended family or informal networks. One woman, recently returned with a newborn, says she was denied food and shelter. 'They told me: 'You're not eligible. You don't have a man with you.' But my baby is just four days old. Where am I supposed to go?' The UN agency, the International Organization for Migration, and other groups provide temporary aid at border crossings, but they do not have the mandate or resources for long-term support. In the buses taking deportees from detention to the Afghanistan borders, women also say they are subjected to verbal abuse, bribes demanded for basic services and no air conditioning in extreme heat. 'They said it's a waste for you Afghans. My child cried from the heat, but the driver laughed and mocked us,' says Zahra*. * Names have been changed Kreshma Fakhri contributed to this report.
The Guardian
07-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘They threw us out like garbage': Iran rushes deportation of 4 million Afghans before deadline
Women forced back to living under the Taliban's increasingly repressive regime have spoken of their desperation as Iran accelerates the deportation of an estimated 4 million Afghans who had fled to the country. In the past month alone, more than 250,000 people, including thousands of lone women, have returned to Afghanistan from Iran, according to the UN's migration agency. The numbers accelerated before Sunday's deadline set by the Iranian regime for all undocumented Afghans to leave the country. The Taliban, who returned to power in 2021, have been accused of enforcing a system of gender apartheid in Afghanistan. Women returning to the country must live with oppressive laws that ban them from showing their faces, speaking or appearing in public, as well as being excluded from most jobs and education. Anyone caught breaking these rules faces public flogging. Speaking to the Guardian and Zan Times, an Afghan news agency, at a border crossing in southern Afghanistan, Sahar*, 40, is travelling with five children and says she has no idea where she will live now. A widow originally from Baghlan, a city in northern Afghanistan, she had been living in Iran for more than a decade. She ran a small tailoring workshop and had recently put down a deposit on a home. Last week, she says she was detained, taken with her children from a refugee camp near the southern city of Shiraz, and deported. 'I didn't even get to pack their clothes. They came in the middle of the night. I begged them to give me just two days to collect my things. But they didn't listen. They threw us out like garbage.' Until recently, women were rarely forcibly returned from Iran. Men, often undocumented labourers, were more likely to face arrest and deportation. But Afghan border officials say there has been a recent shift, with at least 100 unaccompanied women deported through a single border point in Nimroz province, in the south of the country, between March and May this year. Returning to Afghanistan without a male guardian puts women in direct conflict with Taliban law, which prohibits women from travelling alone. Many of those returned from Iran find themselves stranded at the border, unable to continue their journey. With temperatures now reaching 52C, local officials say that a number of people have died during the forced crossings. Border officials say at least 13 bodies have arrived in the past two weeks, but it was not clear whether they had died of heat and thirst or were killed during Israel's airstrikes in Iran. Those arriving at border crossings in southern Afghanistan say they are thirsty, hungry and exhausted, having walked for hours under the sun. Most have no belongings, documentation or plan about where to live. 'From Shiraz to Zahedan [close to the Afghan border], they took everything from us. My bank card had 15 million tomans (£110). They charged 50,000 tomans for a bottle of water, 100,000 for a cold sandwich. And if you didn't have it, your child went without,' says Sahar. The Taliban says it offers short-term shelter and transport assistance to women deported without a mahram (an adult male who can accompany her on a journey). But many returnees say they received no such help. Under Taliban policy, most single women are barred from receiving land, travelling alone to their home province, or accessing employment. Sign up to Global Dispatch Get a different world view with a roundup of the best news, features and pictures, curated by our global development team after newsletter promotion Sahar says her options in Afghanistan are bleak. She has an elderly mother in Baghlan, but no home, no job and no husband, meaning, under Taliban rules, she cannot travel alone or work legally. 'I asked for land [from the Taliban], anything to start again. They said, 'You're a woman, you have no mahram. You don't qualify.'' Many end up relying on extended family or informal networks. One woman, recently returned with a newborn, says she was denied food and shelter. 'They told me: 'You're not eligible. You don't have a man with you.' But my baby is just four days old. Where am I supposed to go?' The UN agency, the International Organization for Migration, and other groups provide temporary aid at border crossings, but they do not have the mandate or resources for long-term support. In the buses taking deportees from detention to the Afghanistan borders, women also say they are subjected to verbal abuse, bribes demanded for basic services and no air conditioning in extreme heat. 'They said it's a waste for you Afghans. My child cried from the heat, but the driver laughed and mocked us,' says Zahra*. * Names have been changed Kreshma Fakhri contributed to this report.
Arab News
05-06-2025
- Health
- Arab News
Afghan women UN staff forced to work from home after threats
UNAMA confirmed that UN staff had been threatened'Several United Nations female national staff members in the Afghan capital Kabul have been subjected to threats,' it saidKABUL: Afghan women working for the United Nations in Kabul have been threatened by unidentified men because of their jobs, the organization and several women told AFP on women working for various UN agencies told AFP on condition of anonymity they had been threatened on the street and over the phone by men warning them to 'stay home.'UN staffer Huda — not her real name — said that for weeks she has been bombarded with messages abusing her for 'working with foreigners.''The messages keep coming and they are always harassing us... saying, 'Don't let me see you again, or else',' the young woman told said her office had advised her to work from home until further United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) confirmed that UN staff had been threatened.'Several United Nations female national staff members in the Afghan capital Kabul have been subjected to threats by unidentified individuals related to their work with the UN,' it said in a the threats 'extremely serious,' the UN has taken 'interim' measures 'to ensure the safety and security of staff members,' it Taliban government, accused by the UN of imposing a 'gender apartheid' against women since returning to power in 2021, has denied any ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said such threats were a 'crime' and that police would take said the authorities had opened an seizing power in 2021, the Taliban authorities have severely restricted Afghan women from working and it is the only country in the world where women are banned from education beyond primary government in 2022 banned women from working for domestic and international NGOs, which was extended to include the UN's offices in the country the following policy has some exceptions including for women working in health care and education, and has not been consistently UN has previously called the policy 'deeply discriminatory.'Selsela, in her 30s, said while returning from the office last week she was approached by unknown men who told her she should be 'ashamed' and that she must 'stay home.''They said, 'We told you nicely this time, but next time you'll have another thing coming',' she told AFP.'I was very scared,' she said, explaining how she struggles to work efficiently from home in a country where electricity and Internet are unreliable.'The situation for women is getting worse every day.'Another woman, Rahila, said she and two other women colleagues were stopped by men while traveling home in a UN vehicle and told not to go to the office anymore.'They said, 'Don't you know that you are not allowed?',' Rahila said, adding that she has also received threatening messages from unknown numbers.'I am very worried, I need my job and my salary,' she of Afghanistan's population of some 45 million people struggle to meet their daily needs, according to the UN, with the country facing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
