Below the horizon - the yearning hearts and tears of screwed up Afghan women after Taliban takeover (special insight)

 

Below the horizon: the yearning hearts and tears of screwed up Afghan women after Taliban takeover

The Taliban shift takeover in Afghanistan and the fell of Kabul the 15 Aug 2021, after the flee of the president Ghani, followed to a long series of scathing attacks and crimes, is looming a catastrophe in terms of the protection of human rights in general and the rights of women in detail.

A series of four coordinated terrorist attacks against the US  that took place the 9/11, 2001, plotted by Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda, in which four commercial airliners traveling from the northeastern U.S. to California were hijacked mid-flight by 19 terrorists, causing mass casualties (3000 deads and 2500 injured)  and partial or complete destruction of targeted buildings ( two of the planes hit the Twin Towers of the WTC; a third hit the west side of the Pentagon; a  fourth plane missed the target of Washington, crashing instead into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania) started the War on Terror  and the longest war in US history, just surpassing that fought in Vietnam by approximately five months.

These accidents prompted US President George W. Bush to ask the Taliban, de facto ruling Afghanistan, to extradite Osama bin Laden. In response to the Taliban's refusal to do so, USA and the Northen Alliance decided to invade the country to defeat and to expel this extremist Islamic political movement and military organization in a counter-terrorism strategy. In an intricate, relentless man-hunt, the US and a coalition of over 40 countries, including all NATO members, stood still into the country and formed a UN security mission called International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) with the purpose of consolidating a new democratic authority in Afghanistan  and of preventing Taliban and al-Qaeda come back to power. After Enduring Freedom operation began and the new Afghan leaders elected Karzai to head the Afghan Interim Authority, took place the 2001 Bonn Conference, organized by the US Secretary of State Colin Powell at the behest of the President G.W. Bush and in which sat down together USA, Iran, Russia, Pakistan, India and representatives of Northern Alliance. 

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the 2001 Bonn Agreement  established an Interim Administration and a Code of Conduct to make it compliant to the international standards, in an attempt to harmonize Islamic principles with UN and other specialized agencies, international institutions and conferences with the rule of law and at the same time to Afghan legal traditions. The Bonn Agreement provided the legal framework to be applied until the adoption of a new Constitution, confirming the implementation of the previous Constitution of 1964 to the extent that its provisions are not inconsistent with those contained in this agreement. According to the agreement, the Interim Administration should be entrusted of the day-to-day conduct of the affairs of the State and have the right to issue decrees for the peace, order and good government of Afghanistan. 

This agreement established the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (aihrc.org.af), national human rights institution working in the area of protection and promotion of human rights, set up on the basis of  Bonn Agreement and Presidential Decrees, on the basis of art. 58 of the Afghan Constitution . And according to it every individual shall complain to the Commission on the field of violation of personal human rights. The Commission shall refer these breaches to legal authorities and assist them in defense of their rights.  Among the several program units in the structure of the AIHRC it cannot be mentioned the Women’s Rights Unit.

AIHRC programs and activities are carried out by a Central Office in Kabul, eight regional offices and six provincial offices across the country. The AIHRC is a member of the ICC, presenting recommendations on working improvements to national human rights institutions in the protection and promotion of human rights and evaluating the compliance with the Paris Principles.

The Special Independent Commission for the Convening of the Emergency Loya Jirga should have expertise in constitutional and customary law. It had the task of drafting rules and procedures specifying criteria for allocation of seats to the settled and nomadic population residing in the country, criteria for allocation of seats to the Afghan refugees living in Iran, Pakistan and elsewhere from the diaspora, criteria for inclusion of civil society organizations. The Special Independent Commission ensured due attention to the representation of women as well as other segments of Afghan population.

The Interim Authority and the Emergency Loya Jirga shall act in accordance with basic principles and provisions contained in the international instruments of human rights and international humanitarian law in which Afghanistan takes part- The Interim Authority cooperated in the fight against terrorism, drugs and organized crimes. All the actions they undertake had to be consistent with the UNSCR 1378 (14 Nov 2001) and other relevant UNSC resolutions relating to Afghanistan.

The Annex 1 to the Bonn Agreement established ISAF in order to provide security, law and order throughout the country as the participants requested the assistance of the international community in helping the new Afghan authorities in the establishment and training of the new Afghan security and Armed forces. The UNSC authorized the deployment in Afghanistan of a UN mandate force to assist the maintenance of security for Kabul and its surrounding areas, with a withdrawal of all other military forces from Kabul and other urban centers. The ISAF main task was assisting in the rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction of Afghanistan infrastructure.

 The provisions of the 2001 Bonn Agreement were entrenched in the Afghanistan Constitution of 2004. While the ongoing tug of war, wave of violence and reconstruction efforts often makes difficult to get an accurate sense of what is going on, various NGOS are kept on reporting gross human rights violations perpetrated not only by Afghan government but also by American soldiers on civilians, enduring torture and inhumane treatments. 

Excluded by the Bonn Conference in 2001, Taliban have been marginalized for long time but they continued their resistance efforts, even if formally declared to surrender and abstain from political life, but they do that just to get immunity for arrest. It would be difficult for those who were not in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002 to realise how popular the Taleban, not just military but political and emotional, defeat was and at that time most Taleban accepted their world had changed, feeling how weirdly out of key they were. The Taleban that fled Afghanistan found a safe haven in Pakistan, forging a complex, well-funded and well-armed insurgency, committing war crimes daily, killing civilians with recklessness or intention.

In the following years two events shook up the political Taliban destiny in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region: the death of al-Qa‘ida founder Usama Bin Ladin in May 2011 and of Mullah Omar in 2013. Omar, who was the president of Afghanistan during the Taliban’s rule and a major Bin Ladin supporter, was wanted by the US Government through the Rewards for Justice program. Mullah Mansur, who was Omar’s second-in-command, in early Aug 2015 was selected as the new Taliban leader. 

By 2017 the Taliban had nonetheless grown into a huge organisation, with a diversified military apparatus and a widespread governance structure. As fragmentation persisted, the different Shuras of the Taliban started evolving through separated paths: i.e., some more militaristic, or some more centralised than others. Even the issue of reconciliation with Kabul was viewed very differently by the different parts. To a large extent Taliban fragmentation is due to incompatible sources of funding in the region. To help run the organization, the Taliban had several commissions, based in Pakistan, critical to performing the key tasks of running an insurgency and governing territory After all, insurgency is a process of alternative State building, where insurgents provide governance to the population in areas they control. Leaders want to extract what they can from non-combatants to sustain their groups, such as information, food, housing, and supplies. Groups need to establish organizational structures that can secure funds through taxation and other means, organize policing, administer justice, and provide health benefits.The Taliban’s primary commissions allow them to perform these tasks, including a Military Commission, a Media Commission created for propaganda, a Commission for Financial Affairs to raise funds and a Political Commission to oversee peace negotiations.

The spread of the Taliban’s governance system unsurprisingly tended to follow quite closely the spread of the military forces. Some groups of Taliban did not believe much in governance and tended to invest less in it, or nothing at all. Their governance system was originally rolled out in remote areas, but was during last years extended to more heavily populated areas.

"Thanks to the US-led coalition forces, the government ruled and survived all these years. That the Taliban is making a spectacular comeback to claim power goes on to suggest that it never had lost its links with the masses." Dr Amalendu Misra, senior lecturer in Politics, Philosophy, and Religion at Lancaster University in the UK, insisted.

Although that, the Taliban rose from the ashes and reshaped their strength under Mullah Omar, launching in 2003 an harsh rebellion against the new Afghan government, waging an asymmetric warfare with guerrilla raids spiralling escalating to a point where large parts of Afghanistan had been reconquered by Taliban by 2007. ISAF counter-attacked by massively deploying troops reaching in 2011 a peak of 140,000 foreign soldiers .

After the final killing of Osama bin Laden in this year, NATO leaders began withdrawing their forces until the December 28, 2014, ending at the same time ISAF combat operations, officially transferring full security responsibility to the Afghan government. Incapable of militarily erasing Taliban, the members of coalition and separately the government of president Ghani drifted to diplomacy in order to quench the conflict. These efforts culminated in February 2020, when the US and the Taliban signed a conditional peace deal in Doha imposing a US troops complete withdraw by April 2021. The Taliban, in return, pledged to prevent any group in the territory of Afghanistan from attacking the US and its allies in the future. The Afghan government was not a party to the deal and rejected its terms regarding the release of prisoners. 

The Doha Agreement , signed by the deputy prime minister Baradar, also known as the Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan, is a four pages document, unanimously endorsed by the UNSC , concluded on February 29, 2020 in order to stop the war and to start intra-Afghan dialogue for “a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire” since March 10. 

Trump’s administration agreed to an initial reduction of its forces from 13,000 to 8,600 by July 2020, followed by a full withdrawal within 14 months, if the Taliban would have fulfilled their commitments. The US also pledged to closing five military bases within 135 days, and expressed its intent to end economic sanctions on the Taliban by August 27, 2020.

On 15 August 2021, after taking control of a vast majority of Afghan territory, the Taliban began capturing the capital city of Kabul, and many civilians, government officials and foreign diplomats were evacuated. President Ghani fled the country the same day  and the day after, an unofficial Coordination Council was in the process of coordinating the transfer of the State institutions of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the Taliban. Saleh proclaimed himself the caretaker President of Afghanistan and announced the formation of an anti-Taliban front  along with Massoud but on 6 September the Taliban took control of most of the Panjshir province, pushing both to seek refuge in Tajikistan, causing the proclamation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, under the supreme leader Akhunzada and the Prime Minister Akhund, A new, all-male cabinet was formed, abolishing the Ministry of Women's Affairs .

On this occasion occurred an extraordinary evacuation of ten thousands of civilians and military personnel. According to CNN, the new government is likely to be a unitary Deobandist Islamic Republic . A unitary State is a State governed as a single entity in which the central government is the supreme authority, which could create or abolish administrative divisions just exercising the powers that the central government chooses to delegate. Although political power may be delegated through devolution to regional or local governments by statute, the central government may abrogate the acts of devolved governments or curtail or expand their powers.

As forms of government, unitary States are opposed to  federal states, that would have been the most suitable solution given the multietnicity and the several divisions characterizing the country (solution rejected in the name of Islam prophecies about Unitarian government and centralized institutions) and nowadays a large majority of the world's states (166 of the 193 UN Member States)  have preferred a unitary system of government. 

In a report by News18 , sources said the new government was going to be governed similarly to Iran with  Akhundzada as supreme leader similar to the role of Saayid Ali Khamenei, and would be based out of Kandahar. The interim government is formed by the prime minister Akhund, two deputy Prime ministers (Baradar and Hanafi), Haqqani as a Minister of Interior, Muttaqi as Minister of Foreign Affairs  The government's ministries and agencies will be under a cabinet presided over by the Prime Minister, Ishaqzai, Chief of Justice. 

With the reestablishment of the Emirate in Afghanistan, the likely result is erasing all the progress that was made toward building democracy, and particularly, women and girls rights. The Talibans, in fact, are in many ways a different organization from that governing Afghanistan in the ‘90s and most of their leaders are committed to an extreme interpretation of Islam not shared by many Afghans, an autocratic political system that eschews democracy and is persistent in maintening relations with terrorist groups like al Qaeda.” 

While the West has adopted a wait-and see approach to the Taliban, there were some sign of engagements with the new leaders gathering pace. The UN restarted humanitarian flights to parts of the country, China promised to keep opened its embassy in Kabul and to provide humanitarian assistance, Italy is involved in providing assistance to the refugees escaping Taliban.

Many street protests occurred for the stints applied to women rights and damages affecting in this war-wracked country, 3,8 mln of children suffering of malnutrition, as reported by Save the Children and Unicef. 

The new government is taking place within the framework of an amended 1964 Royal Constitution of Afghanistan, that was enacted from1964 to 1973, when it was annulled following a coup d’etat, although some of its parts not conflicting with Sharia law were restored by future governments from 2002 to 2004 and from 2021. Its primary goals were to prepare the government and the people for gradual movement toward democracy and socioeconomic modernization .  As of early September, the Taliban were planning the Cabinet to be men-only, stating that women would not be allowed to "work in high-ranking posts" in the government and that women were "ruled out" from the Cabinet. Journalists and other human rights activists, mostly women, defiantly protested in Herat and Kabul,  claiming their right to have education, work and security and to be included and consulted in the makeup of the new government.

 On 20 September 2021, UN Secretary-General António Guterres received a letter from acting minister of Foreign Affairs Muttaqi to formally claim Afghanistan's seat as a Member State and asked to address the UNGA but their situation is very critical. 

The US withdrawals was completed on August 30, 2021, along with the end of the over-the-horizon counterterrorist attacks, term anticipated by Biden administration as he declared to have no interest to procrastinate the permanence in the country until the 20th anniversary of 9/11 attacks, although the shift of power .

Western nations have suspended most humanitarian aids to Afghanistan following the Taliban's takeover of the country in Aug 2021 and the WB and IMF also halted payments. According to HRW  in Oct 2021, more than half of Afghanistan's 39 mln people faced famine and starvation due to an economic and banking crisis . Since the income of opium poppy is 10 times that of barley, the cultivation of opium poppy provides a stable income for farmers and taxation for the government, which has become the foundation a collapsed economy.

According to the Costs of War Project  the war killed 176,000 people in Afghanistan; 46,319 civilians, 69,095 military and police and at least 52,893 opposition fighters. According to the UN, after the 2001 invasion, more than 5.7 mln former refugees returned to Afghanistan. However, since the renewed Taliban offensive of 2021, 2.6 million Afghans remain refugees, mostly in Pakistan and Iran, and another 4 mln remain IDPs within the country. 

The withdrawal of US and Nato forces  and the Taliban takeover coincided with the increasing of  women rights abuses, the confinement of the role of women and girls, the relegation of their space and forms of expression in society, forbidding them a significant access in society other than a full participation in public life. Moreover, during last months, we have witnessed all the same a sequence of tragic events even if well hindered under the plague of misinformation, misconception and misperception, being independent journalism criminalized, due to a dichotomic repression of the freedom of press and of dissent both from government and civil society. This remarkably impacted on the human rights soundly acclaimed as the main achievements of the last twenty years reforms and in order to understand if the overall situation is improved or deteriorated, beyond the apparent renewed profile of this country in the international community, it should be proper a step-by-step overview of the main legal changes occurred, their practice and their customs as the Taliban, in power since 1996, imposed tough restrictions on women and perpetrated gross violations.

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, established in 1996, is not to be confused with the Emirate of Afghanistan (1823–1926) and Emirate of Afghanistan (1929), Islamic State of Afghanistan (1992–2002), or Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2004–2021). The Taliban have at times been credited with being good at maintaining security, albeit through very heavy-handed means, and providing efficient forms of traditional justice, but they had little technocratic understanding of how to perform the other functions of government. With an exodus of people, one vulnerability could be an insufficient number of professionals to run state institutions, as the government does not have much revenue to spend on public services.

The Taliban demanded a new constitution for Afghanistan and promised an "inclusive Islamic system" to govern the war-torn country, reckoning that Kabul previous government constitution is invalid as imported from the West and being an obstacle for peace. They would rather prefer an Islamic constitution, with a new Charter drafted by Islamic scholars.

 Many issues regarding how the Taliban would run Afghanistan have yet to be finalised, but Afghanistan would not be a democracy, as officially declared, for, in their believes, a democratic system does not have any base in their country. All could be discussed but the type of political system to apply in Afghanistan: just the Sharia law. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also known as the Taliban regime, established a theocracy. The Taliban regime was and have ruled Afghanistan for five years, until it was expelled from Kabul in late 2001. In its heyday, the Taliban never effectively ruled the entire territory of Afghanistan; about 10% of the northeast of the country was controlled by the United Islamic National Salvation Front of Afghanistan (better known as  "Northern Alliance"). Since the beginning, the Taliban pursued radical policies, banned women from working, closed off to the outside world, and regressed living standards. Afghanistan became one of the countries with the highest illiteracy rate. Although very popular at start, the five-year civil war and the massacre of the Hazara increased public grievances. Islam is the most important unifying force within Afghan society, and the teachings of Islam have profoundly influenced their social and cultural aspects. The Muslims constitute over 99% of the population, the remaining 1% of Hindu and Jews. About four-fifths of these Muslims follows the orthodox Sunni Islam and most of the remaining follow Shi’a sects. The leading religious groups of Afghanistan are Mullahs, Qadis, Sadat, Khwaja, Sahibzada, Pir, and Fuqara. Learned among them are the Islamic scholars (Ulema) who consist of the Mullahs, Wadis, and Muftis (jurisconsults). There is no organized system to determine the power and influence of the religious leaders; Afghanistan is almost wholly governed by local patterns and the personal attributes of the Mullahs.

The Taliban immediately implemented the strictest interpretation of Sharia law ever seen in the Muslim world. They closed down girls’ schools and banned women from working outside the home, smashed TV sets, forbade a whole array of sports and recreational activities, and ordered all males to grow long beards. TV, videos, satellite dishes, music, and all games including chess, football, and kite -flying were banned. Taliban soldiers stood on main streets arresting men without beards.

The Taliban never gave an indication to how and when and whether they would set up a more permanent representative government, whether they would have a constitution or not, and how political power would be divided.

Since the times of Mullah Omar, the Kandahar Islamic Supreme Court became the most important court in the country. The Court appointed Islamic judges  in the provinces, and once or twice a year assembled them all in Kandahar to discuss cases and the application of Sharia law. A parallel system existed in Kabul where the Justice Ministry and the Supreme Court of Afghanistan are based. Customary law, or Rawaj, is an institution which resists the process of social, political, and economic integration. This type of law varies from tribe to tribe and from region to region; in general, it institutionalized local socio-economic interests. It often not only circumvents the laws of the country, but also modified certain tenets of Islamic law, especially in matters of marriage, inheritance, and women’s rights. Each tribe has its own code of conduct regulated by a local assembly of elders (provincial Jirga).

The Taliban held sway in Afghanistan until October 2001, when they were seemingly routed from power by the US-led campaign against al-Qa‘ida. On 22 December 2001 Pashtun royalist Hamid Karzai was sworn in as head of a 30 member interim power-sharing government. The end of the American occupation and establishment of an Islamic system was the lofty objective of the Islamic Emirate. Establishment of official venue for the Islamic Emirate; removal of blacklist and prize list; release of prisoners and ending poisonous propaganda are among the preliminary steps needed for peace. Islamic Emirate considered it its obligation, on the call of its faith and conscious, to serve the Afghan people. The Islamic Emirate is committed to civil activities; to freedom of speech and to women’s rights in the light of Islamic rules, national interests and values. It considers it its responsibility to provide to the sons of the nation access to education and protect and build national installations and assets of public benefit. The unity of Muslims is very important in Islam. Many verses in the Holy Qur'an emphasize the need and importance of unity. Allah says: “That is, obey God, His Messenger, and his leaders”. The Taliban tried to establish a so-called "true Islamic country" and adopted a series of extremely radical measures, declaring that they would "restore the traditional way of life of Islam." The Taliban established religious police to supervise the implementation of Shariah laws, to closed movie theaters and television stations, to ban the use of Internet and to play Western music. The Taliban claimed that the law was based on the Koran, such as stoning adulterers to death; public executions of murderers. It was makrooh to buy and sell sex products conceived as sin and guilt, such as TV, VCRs, red albums, etc. Makrooh is a disliked or offensive act though which is not forbidden or subject to punishment, a person who abstains from this act, on the contrary he will be rewarded. If the customer is the right person, and the seller thinks that these items are not used in sin, then it is permissible. 

Women must wear a veil when they go out, and they must be accompanied by a chaperone (mahram). As said, the Taliban deprived women of their basic rights. Since about 70% of teachers in Afghanistan are women, women’s ban on work has caused many schoolchildren to lose access to education, and Afghanistan has become one of the countries with the highest illiteracy rate. Public places are almost completely isolated from contact between men and women, and these last are denied to get medical treatments from contacting male doctors. Islam has instructed women to stay indoors as long as possible and they face a wide gamut of restrictions, such as wearing perfume when leaving, and to walk on the side of the road, not enter the crowd of men, and if they need to go out, the whole body will be wrapped in a chador or a long scarf or a thick colored cloth. Although the Qur'an does not refer to any  particular ornaments, women who go out of the house for any reason should not wear any ornaments with a non-mahram. Even the freedom of speech is forbidden: if they need to speak, they have to be essential and talk for a short while, be polite but not seductive or using tone of elegance and preference.

In the recent years, Taliban seemingly moderated its views on some issues, such as the education of girls and the use of modern technology and digital platforms. Taliban deputy leader Haqqani wrote in Feb 2020 that the Taliban would “build an Islamic system in which all Afghans have equal rights, where the rights of women that are granted by Islam are protected” but they had a well-documented record of repression, intolerance, and human rights abuses against women, foreigners, ethnic minorities, and journalists. The Taliban’s persecution of women is particularly concerning: women who are victims of domestic violence have little recourse to justice in Taliban courts, and the Taliban discourages women from working, denies women access to modern healthcare, prohibits them to participate in politics, and supports punishments  for them such as stoning and public lashing.

There are debates within the Taliban over the role and participation of women in public life. While some members support a hardline view, many others support it based on evidence from Islamic theology and history. They have been pushing for a more inclusive government with women in various positions. There are provisions within Hanafi jurisprudence for women to be judges and hold other senior public offices. Some hardliners cannot substantiate their position from an Islamic legal perspective and their views are rooted in culture. It is not easy to abandon a position that has been held by your forefathers.

When it comes to girls' education, hardly anyone in the Taliban could deny the clear statements of Prophet Muhammad on the obligation of seeking knowledge for men and women. Aisha, one of the wives of Prophet Muhammad, was a prominent scholar of Islam and a teacher to many prominent companions of the prophet. Some hardliners pushed for the suspension of girls' education until strict measures are applied to practice gender-based segregation.

Many senior Taliban figures, especially those who have lived abroad, take a more lenient view on this matter: while they are opposed to the suspension of girls' education, they believe that Afghan society is by nature fairly conservative and the overwhelming majority of people will abide by the Taliban's policies.

What are frequently described as “the gains of the last 20 years” were often limited to a minority of urbanised women and girls, whereas the losses imposed on them by a relentless war,  in terms of deaths, injuries, trauma, insecurity, economic loss, were more conspicuous.

The Taliban’s rapid-fire advance through Afghanistan in August 2021 left women and girls, a whole generation of whom have grown up with rights and freedoms, among the most vulnerable people. They are definitely losing those hard-won achievements as the Taliban seized control of Kabul. Afghan women have been targeted for speaking out against attacks by Taliban or for holding positions of authority. Since the start of 2021, civilian deaths had risen by almost 50% with more women and children killed and wounded than in the first six months of any year since records began in 2009, the UN reported in July 2021.

As Kabul fell into the hands of Islamist insurgents, emerged numerous reports of  Taliban going door-to-door, drafting lists of women and girls aged between 12 and 45 years who were forced to marry Islamist fighters.

The treatment of women across Islamic countries worldwide is very different: i.e.,  Pakistan had female prime minister, but in Saudi Arabia, the government only recently allowed women to have relevant positions in society. It is therefore unrealistic to expect under Taliban regime to get better records in terms of women's rights than other existing Islamic States in Central Asia.  More moderate the experience in Islamic North African countries as Tunisia and Morocco.

For a whole generation of Afghan women who entered public life ( lawmakers, journalists, local governors, doctors, nurses, teachers and public administrators) while striving, working alongside male colleagues, to help build a democratically-run civil society, they also hoped to open up opportunities for next generations.

The achievements of women over the past two decades will be difficult to remove. Improving the quality of life and the status of Afghan women had been a key goal of the US and the international donor community since 2002. The US had committed $1 bln for gender-related programs in Afghanistan and spent another $1 bln on programs for which the advancement of women was a component. Since the Taliban regime was overthrown in 2001, millions of Afghan women have voted; and some women occupied prominent positions in society; 63 women were members of parliament (out of 320 seats); 68,000 women were instructors in schools and universities; 6,000 women serve as judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, police, and soldiers; about 10,000 women were health care professionals and 1,150 women entrepreneurs have invested $77 mln in their businesses.

Even so, Afghanistan remained one of the most challenging places in the world to be a woman: in 2018, the UN ranked Afghanistan 153rd out of 160 countries for gender equality,despite its  constitution.

Women in Afghanistan used to be active participants in society. Before the Taliban took over in 1996, in fact, 70% of the teachers in the capital city, Kabul, were women, 40% of the doctors were female. Women were engineers, architects, lawyers, and judges. During the long years of war, the economy of many families became dependent on women's income.

However, the Taliban changed everything. Taliban banned any form of female education, from kindergarten through graduate school; wearing makeup, nail polish or jewelry; plucking eyebrows or cutting hair short; wearing colorful or stylish clothes, sheer stockings, white socks or shoes, or high heels; laughing, talking or walking loudly in public. In fact, one of the Taliban's dictates read, "Women, you should not step outside your residence." If women did venture outside, it had to be, always escorted, for essential purposes. 

The Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) presidential decree obliges police to arrest persons who abuse women but the implementation and awareness of this law limited. Forced virginity testing remained legal, and police, prosecutors, and judges continued to order virginity tests in cases of “moral crimes”, such as zina.

Certain factors appear central in relation to marriage: the marrying parties have little influence on the choice of partner. Local tradition and religion rule the institution of marriage. an institution marred by many discriminatory and oppressive practices such  as no adequate registration routines put in place by the authorities, and whose formalities were of subordinate importance about its legal effectiveness. Irrespective of kinship group, ethnicity and geographical region, most of the marriages in Afghanistan were arranged, meaning that they were entered into following an agreement between families/groups. The marriage contract is thus an agreement between two families and not a confirmation of an affective relationship between two individuals. These arranged marriages were part of a complex set of traditions, loyalties and authorities. They play a key role in the establishment of alliances between families or in strengthening pre-existing networks and their agreements have strong political and economical aspects. The marriage tradition is endogamous, which in this context means that partners from one’s own kinship group, tribe or ethnic group are preferred. There were no reliable marriage statistics available for Afghanistan, but some surveys indicate that approximately half of all marriages involve persons in close kinship. Marrying a cousin is considered optimal, both cross and parallel cousins. While it is legal for male citizens to marry foreign non-Muslims, it is illegal for female citizens to do so.  

The bride price is the sum which is paid to a woman’s parents in return for the right to marry their daughter. It is perceived as a compensation to the woman’s family for having raised her. The bride price is an accepted custom which is practised in large parts of the country. The tradition of paying bride price remains strong in rural areas, where it’s an important source of income for poor families. In certain areas, females are sometimes bartered in a method of dispute resolution which is called a baad, a method of settlement and compensation whereby a female from a criminal's family is given to the victim's family as a servant or a bride. Although baad is illegal under Afghan law, many of the victims do not know their rights.

According to Unicef the 57% of marriage agreements concluded in Afghanistan involve girls under 16 years of age. Polygamy, a man’s right to be married to several women at the same time, is legal both under Sharia law and Afghan civil law (a man can be legally married to four wives). The prevalence of polygamy has increased during the last three decades, because the conflicts in Afghanistan produced a growing number of widows. The increase of this form of marriage takes place within a population segment consisting of wealthy illiterates. When an unmarried girl elopes with a boy, his family and the villagers call for a Jirga and it decides the amount of the dowry to be given to the girl’s father. The boy must also pay a fine to the village in the form of the cow or sheep. The Taliban sought to reassure Afghan women. At the Moscow peace talks in Feb 2019, the one of their delegation said, “Islam has given women all fundamental rights, such as business and ownership, inheritance, education, work, choosing one’s husband, security, health, and right to good life.” Nevertheless, many questions regarding the Taliban’s stance remain, particularly around their interpretation of women’s rights according to Islam. The Taliban in fact denounced so-called “women’s rights activists” who, in their view, were encouraging women to violate Afghan customs. Thus, speci¬fic Taliban positions on women’s rights were difficult to ascertain. A June 2018 report published by Britain’s ODI on life under Taliban shadow governance appeared to validate such fears. The report’s author could identify no instances in which girls’ secondary schools were open in areas under heavy Taliban influence or control. Girls’ education in these areas generally terminated at the age at which girls reach puberty (between grades 4–6), when more restrictions were placed on their lives outside the home. 

For what concerns the international relations of the Emirate, it must be said that since 1996, the Taliban have controlled the seat of government in Afghanistan for five years. During that period they received recognition from only three states (UAE, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia). Abdul Qahar Balkhi, a member of the Taliban's Cultural Commission, told US magazine Newsweek in Aug 2021 they were seeking global recognition for the Islamic Emirate. While organizations like the WB suspended aid to the country waiting to verify the conduct of Taliban, international aid and humanitarian organizations keep on hardly working in the country.

However, if the Taliban government can establish a system that will protect the rights and freedoms, especially those referring to women and girls, with such a relatively “moderate” system, it will be easier for Turkey and the Western States to do business. Moreover, it will be able to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a place where militant groups flourish and develop again, the foremost concern of the US and the West.

Although the Taliban began talking to Russia and China about possible economic cooperation projects, it remained to be seen how that will be put in practice. It’s also needed that humanitarian agencies provide urgent aids to Afghans displaced by the war. Up to now more than 5 mln Afghans are estimated to be IDP. The UN says nearly 400,000 people have been displaced this year alone as a result of ongoing violence. In order to unlock international funding, the international community’s recognition of a Taliban government will be fundamental, as the group was still blacklisted by the UN.

The Taliban shrugged off the idea of reliance on foreign aid, saying its fighters survived on bread and water while fighting the war. The question remains: would it be possible to convince millions of Afghan civilians to live without the foreign helps they have relied on for years? It was also an opportunity for foreign donors and aid agencies to persuade the Taliban to accept their terms in return for aid.

As international community is watching closely the development of Afghanistan situation, to what extent the Afghan Taliban will honor its promise to make its governance inclusive and to respect women's rights is a question in focus, which is key for relevant parties to consider whether to recognize Taliban government and restart investments.

In addition to women's rights and internal governance policies, neighboring countries of Afghanistan and world's major powers are urging Taliban to be inclusive and moderate, and cut off ties with all kinds of terrorism, separatism and extremism. Responding to concerns and worries among Afghan people and the international community, the Taliban has promised that it will respect women's rights, forgive those who fought against them and ensure that Afghanistan does not become a safe haven for terrorists, according to a Taliban spokesperson at a press conference on 17 Aug 2021. Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban's spokesperson promised it would "honor women's rights within the norms of Islamic law," with no specific argumentation. 

On 29 July 2021, the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken declared during  an official visit in India that “An Afghanistan that does not respect the rights of its people, an Afghanistan that commits atrocities against its own people would become a pariah state”. Blinken warned the Taliban that they must show off a real intention for change if they want to gain global acceptance, international recognition and support.

What is happening in Afghanistan will deepen the impression among Arab governments that they can’t rely on the US to protect their security as they used to.

Thus, the main impact of the latest events in Afghanistan on the Middle East has boosted morale for any group backing the USA withdrawal from the region and undermined the confidence of those who perceive them as allies. The Taliban adhere to Sunni Islam and follow the ultra-conservative Deobandi school of the religion. Nevertheless, Islamist groups from around the region, from Palestine to Iraq, no matter if they were Sunni or Shiite, congratulated the Taliban on their victory.. 

The Taliban have declared they won't be making any official announcements until new government will be created and experts suggest that many changes on the ground should likely be viewed through the prism of the long running conflict between Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia and Shiite-majority Iran.

The Taliban ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, when the US invaded. In the 1990s, neighboring Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were the only countries in the world to offer the Taliban diplomatic recognition. For many years, the Taliban's relationships with Saudi Arabia were very close until Sept 11, 2001, when al-Qaeda, the Sunni Muslim terrorist group whose leadership had been sheltering in Afghanistan, carried out suicide attacks in the US, resulting in the deaths of over 3,000 people.

As allies of the US, the Saudis were increasingly forced to keep their distance. The UAE broke off diplomatic ties shortly after the Sept 2001 attacks. Since then, Qatar slowly worked as a mediator between the Taliban and other parties in those years, and from 2013 onwards, became infamous for being the only country in the world to formally host the Taliban's political commission. Iran's relationship with Afghanistan and the Taliban has also changed over the years. "There may be more ideological resonance between the Taliban and the Saudis but in terms of diplomatic relations the relationship with Iran is now much more developed," said Harpviken, who has written about the Taliban's foreign policy and is director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo . "The two almost went to war in 1988, and Iranians haven't forgotten that".

In a Dec 2020 interview, Iranian Foreign Minister Javid Zarif hinted that some of the Fatemiyoun Brigades, made up of Shiite Muslim Afghans, that sought refuge from Taliban persecutions in Iran, trained and equipped by the Iranians and that fought in both Iraq and Syria, might already have returned to Afghanistan. If an opposition to the Taliban were to emerge inside Afghanistan, it wouldn't be possible without comprehensive external support. The Saudi-Iran rivalry hasn't been very conspicuous on Afghan soil but it exists a threatening potential. 

When it comes to official recognition of a Taliban-led Afghanistan, Middle Eastern countries are unlikely to be at the front of the line though, Pakistan will likely be first; then China, Russia, Turkey and Iran have indicated that they will pursue formal relations with the Taliban and are ready to recognize a Taliban government in Kabul. Many Middle Eastern states never wanted to  upset the US, especially after some of them signed the Abraham Accords. There won't be a repeat of 1996, and the costs for a country like Saudi Arabia or the UAE to recognize Taliban government are clear." 

As it concerns its international commitments, Afghanistan has been a signatory to all major international human rights conventions and treaties, especially the UN Convention against Torture (CAT) since April 1987, and, although that, a UN study in 2011 reported on interviews with 379 detainees found those held by police or intelligence services were subjected to beatings, removal of toenails and electric shocks . Some members of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS), the Afghanistan national intelligence and security service, called to investigate cases involving "national treason, espionage, terrorism, sabotage, propaganda against the Government, war propaganda, assisting enemy forces, and organised activity against internal and external security" , have been accused of torturing suspects, harassing journalists, deliberately killing civilians during government raids. The security forces of local militias, which also have their own prisons, have been accused of torture and arbitrary killings; warlords in the north have used property destruction, rape, and murder to discourage displaced Pashtuns from reclaiming their homes; child and human trafficking remain common outside Kabul; civilians have been killed frequently in battles between warlord forces. Poor conditions in the overcrowded prisons have contributed to illness and death amongst prisoners and, to stop it, a prison rehabilitation program began in 2003.

.In the past, a radical change seemed to have been introduced by the promulgation of the 2004 Constitution, that incorporated many international principles, officially signed by Karzai, approved by consensus after the 2003 loya jirga and consisting of 162 articles, proclaiming the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. It is a text based on Islam that seemed to innovate for the recognition of the principle of equality, protection and implementation of human rights, at least on the paper, including women’s rights, minority rights, freedom of expression and assembly and so on. Under the new constitution, at least two females shall be the elected members of the House of People from each province. (Art. 83)  .Article 22 stated that ”Any kind of discrimination and distinction between citizens of Afghanistan shall be forbidden. The citizens of Afghanistan, man and woman, have equal rights and duties before the law”. Although that, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security ranks Afghanistan as one of the worst countries for women . A bill of rights was enshrined in chapter two of the Constitution of Afghanistan. The right to life and liberty were constitutionally protected as were the right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence for all persons, giving the Republic a strong human rights framework that is guaranteed to all citizens. The constitution provided for an elected President and National Assembly and divided Afghanistan in 34 provinces, each one governed by a provincial council, with members elected for four-year terms, and a Provincial Governor appointed by the President. Afghanistan had two dominant justice systems: the formal state system and the informal traditional system. Despite existence of ordinary judicial system e.g. Supreme Court, National Security Court (dealing with terrorism related cases), first and second instance courts, "jirga" and "shura", traditional institutions, are operating. In the absence of an effective national judicial system, the right to judicial protection has been compromised as uneven local standards have prevailed in criminal trials. 

The Chapter two of the Constitution , made up of 32 articles, concerns the”fundamental rights and duties of citizens”, among which must be underlined the importance, for the purpose of this dissertation, of art. 22, , 29, 54 and 58.The 2004 Constitution have been effective until 15 Sept 2021, after the Fall of Kabul. As of early September, the Taliban were planning the Cabinet to be men-only, stating that women would not be allowed to "work in high-ranking posts" in the government and that women were "ruled out" from the Cabinet. Journalists and other human rights activists, mostly women, protested in Herat and Kabul, calling for women to be included in the Cabinet. The acting Cabinet announced on 7 September was men-only, and the Ministry of Women's Affairs appeared to have been abolished. 

One year before, in 2003, Afghanistan ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) , adopted by the UNGA the 18 Dec 1979. The Convention also has a provision obliging its Member States to carry out some legislative changes, including establishing gender equality in law, abolishing discriminatory laws and creating further institutions (tribunals and public bodies) protecting women against all forms of discrimination and violence. Furthermore, according to art. 18 of the Convention, Member States have to produce an annual report on the establishment of the Convention.

The come into force of CEDAW in Afghanistan affected 2004 Constitution, so that gender equality is more clearly defined by law and the government also recognises its duty to protect mothers and children. 

The come into force of CEDAW in Afghanistan affected 2004 Constitution, so that gender equality is more clearly defined by law and the government also recognises its duty to protect mothers and children. The Convention also contains provisions obliging its member states to carry out certain legislative changes concerning gender equality, abolishment of discriminatory laws and the creation of institutions (tribunals and public bodies) protecting women against all forms of discrimination and violence. Women constitutionally have equal rights to men, rights that have been severely restricted in the previous Taliban regime and now it’s expected a much more moderate reformulation of their form of government and legislation. According to 2004 Constitution women were permitted to work outside home, to engage in political activities, and each political party has to nominate a certain number of female candidates. 

 The Elimination of Violence Against Women Law was enacted in 2009 to offer legal and Sharia-based protection for women and to satisfy victims' demands for justice. A wide-scale national strategy has been put in place to protect women’s rights. A law eliminating violence against women is now in force, toughening the relating sanctions; a quota system has given women a role in the government and in new institutions such as the Public Prosecution Office; was also created the High Commission for the elimination of violence against women. Nevertheless, in March 2009, Afghan President Karzai signed into law an internationally condemned "Shia Family Law" which condones apparent spousal rape (Art.132), child marriage and imposes purdah on married Afghan women. By keeping women indoors, the Taliban claimed to be keeping them safe from harm. Although the offending legislation is said to have been dormant for a year, President Karzai tried to gain the support of Afghan northern Shia legislators and the neighbouring Islamic Republic of Iran, which are more integralist. 

Thus, as a matter of fact, the Convention has brought no visible instantaneous practical changes and the institutional and legislative aspects of the law are being put in place progressively, so that in years to come a turnaround in women’s status in society is hoped to be a real possibility.

Therefore, despite various promises from the government to implement UNSCR 1325 (2000), were faced many hurdles in its implementation.

Another significant step forward seemed to be the law passed on 18 Sept 2020, according which Ghani intended to include mothers' names on their children's birth certificates and identification cards, a dream come true for many activist campaigners.

The Interim government followed the flee of Ghani and the exit of US forces from Afghanistan has not been recognized internationally, since the international community linked recognition to respect for women's and minority rights. Despite repeated assurances by the Taliban, severe restrictions in facts have been placed on their access to education and work. Education in lower grades resumed only in classes segregated by gender. In higher grades (7 through 12) and at the university level, classes for girls and women have been suspended. On 27 Sept 2021, the new chancellor of Kabul University, Ghairat, announced that women were not allowed to return to university to either study or work .  The Taliban cited security concerns as the reason for these measures, however, did not specify under which conditions girls would be allowed to return to school.  

The new Taliban interim cabinet does not include any women as either ministers or deputy ministers. Because of the abolishment of the Ministry of Women's Affairs, many protests led by  women, especially in Kabul, have met violence by the Taliban security forces.

Many women in Afghanistan experience at least one form of abuse. In 2015, the WHO reported that 46% of women in Afghanistan had experienced at least one form of domestic violence from intimate partner, ranging from verbal and psychological to physical abuse and unlawful killing, often glossed over and tolerated by the community as widely practiced.  

 From infancy, girls and women are under the authority of their fathers or husbands. Their freedom of movement is restricted since childhood and also their choice of husbands is restricted. Women and girls are deprived of education and denied economic liberty. In their pre-marriage and post-marriage relationships, their ability to assert their economic and social independence is limited by their families. Most married Afghan females are faced with the stark reality that they are forced to endure abuse. If they try to extricate themselves from abuses, they invariably face social stigma, isolation, persecution for leaving their homes by the authorities and honor killings by their relatives. 

With centuries-old patriarchal rules prevailing by customs and traditions and illiteracy, the issue of violence against women is not only pronounced but generally accepted. In order to reverse this trend, in 2009  was created by multiple organizations which were assisted by prominent women's rights activists in Kabul, namely Unifem, Rights & Democracy, Afghan Women's Network, the Women's Commission in the Parliament and the Afghan Ministry of Women's Affairs. Nowadays, Amnesty International reported that violence against women was perpetrated by both state and non-state actors.  In April 2020, HRW reported that in Afghanistan, women with disabilities face all forms of discrimination and sexual harassment while they are accessing government assistance, health care and schools.  Unicef has recently employed mobile health teams across Afghanistan to address the health issues of Afghan women and children. These teams will travel around the country to provide health services to those women who can’t access the services and will be equipped with urgent nutritional packages. Earlier, Unicef had estimated nearly half of the Afghan children to be facing malnutrition in 2022. On the other hand, the UN has estimated over 24 million people of Afghanistan to be on the verge of starvation as the country is going through the worst humanitarian disaster on Earth .

In 2020, the UNAMA concluded that the vast majority of the perpetrators of honor killings were not punished.  Monitoring conducted by the Human Rights Service of the UNAMA and the Office of the OHCHR from Sept 2018 to Feb 2020 indicates that while the response by the justice sector to violence against women and girls, criminalized under the EVAW Law, continues to improve, the system also fails women and girls in a number of respects. Over an 18-month period, UNAMA documented 303 reports of violence crimes. The purpose of the document was to monitor the judicial processing of reported crimes and to understand what redress was provided by the justice system to women and girls, specifically by three State institutions mandated to ensure women’s access to justice in relation to such crimes: Departments of Women’s Affairs, EVAW prosecutors, and the Family Response Units of the Afghanistan National Police (ANP). Out of the 303 cases documented by UNAMA, only half progressed through the full justice chain to adjudication by a primary court; 31% were not resolved by the justice system for a variety of other reasons, such as failure to arrest the alleged perpetrator; while in other cases the response of the justice sector fails. UNAMA found that EVAW institutions registered so-called “moral crimes”, such as “running away” from home or attempted zina , despite the former not being a codified crime. It documented 40 cases of women being forced into suicide or self-immolation due to violence as in many cases women had sought, but failed, to receive assistance from their families or communities and distrusted the justice system. While information collected by UNAMA indicates that conviction rates for cases of murder of women and girls have increased, cases of so-called “honour killings”  continue to occur and result in a much lower rate of conviction. Among the reported crimes of violence against women and girls, the 48,8 % were resolved by a primary court, the 17,2% where withdrawn or lacked of compliance, 15,8% failed to arrest, 3% mediated, 12,5% not resolved for other reasons, 2,6% were still in progress.

UNAMA monitored EVAW institutions’ response to crimes reported under the EVAW Law as well as murder, which is criminalized in the Penal Code, 2018. Perpetrators were arrested in only 31.8% of “honour killings”, as compared to a 60.8% arrest rate for murders unrelated to “honour” . 

So-called “running away” is not a crime in Afghanistan. However, when women and girls leave their homes without permission of their mahram (a women’s husband, or her immediate male relative), or without providing information to their families about their whereabouts, they are sometimes arrested for “running away” from home and charged with attempted zina. Attempt to commit zina is not a codified crime in the Penal Code but is likely charged through a combination of Art. 643(1) and Art. 47, which proscribes attempts to commit crimes with running away. Detaining or prosecuting women for “running away” or attempted zina is a serious violation of women’s human rights. UNAMA documented 22 cases of murder perpetrated for reasons of so-called “honour”. In 15 of these cases, the alleged perpetrator was a close male family member. Honour is no longer a mitigating factor for murder cases under the Penal Code, which is a welcome development. However, the continuing practice indicates a persistent belief among some members of the community that women may be subjected to punishment in order to preserve or restore the integrity of cultural, traditional, or religious norms and social mores. UNAMA documented 16 cases of child marriage. Art. 28 of the EVAW Law prohibits the marriage of a woman who has not reached the legal age of marriage without considering the provisions of Art. 71 of the Civil Code, 1977. The EVAW Law does not define the legal age of marriage. However, Art. 70(1) of the Civil Code provides that girls have the legal capacity to marry once they attain 16 years of age; art. 71(1) provides that a girl who has not reached 16 years old may be married by her father or a competent court; and art. 71(2) prohibits the marriage of a girl under 15 years old. UNAMA also found that the vast majority of child marriages are arranged or condoned by the girls’ families. It is unrealistic to expect that the girls themselves, who are generally vulnerable and without resources, will be in a position to register a complaint with justice authorities or to withstand familial and societal pressure to maintain a complaint throughout the full course of the criminal justice chain. Given the severe physical and psychological harm of child marriage, this crime should be subject to ex officio prosecution. In many rape cases documented, the survivors were sent for a medical examination after reporting the crime to an EVAW institution. Such examinations should be conducted according to the Ministry of Public Health’s Gender-Based Violence Treatment Protocol . Women are often expected to undergo these examinations after reporting sexual violence, without providing fully informed consent. It is not the role of the healthcare provider to make interpretations about whether sexual violence took place, and identifiable injuries may not be evident in many cases. In at least eight cases of rape documented by UNAMA, the survivor’s report was assessed by the prosecution or primary court as cases of consensual extramarital sexual relations (zina). In many of them, the survivors were then prosecuted pursuant to Art. 643(1) of the Penal Code. The very possibility of being charged with a crime is likely to have a chilling effect on survivors’ willingness to report sexual violence.

A significant number of Afghan women served as members of Parliement until the fall of Kabul in early 2021. Several women also took positions as ministers, governor or ambassador to the US. In Sept 2020, Afghanistan has secured a seat on the UN Commission on the Status of Women for the first time, an achievement evaluated as a “sign of progress for a country once notorious for the oppression of women”.  

The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), which includes the Afghan National Police, have a growing number of female officers. In 2019, women made up 21,2% of the labor force in Afghanistan.  In terms of percentage, women rank high in the fields of medicine and media, and are slowly working their way into the field of justice. Because women were still highly encouraged to consult a female physician when they go to the hospital, nearly 50% of all Afghans in the medical profession were women. The number of women having professions in the media was also rising. . However, even the women that are given the opportunity to have careers have to struggle to balance their home life with their work life, as household tasks are seen as primarily female duties. Education in Afghanistan has gradually improved in the last decade but much more is to be done to align it to the international standards.  The literacy rate for females is merely 24.2%. There are around 9 mln students in the country, whose, about 60% are males and 40% females. Over 174,000 students are enrolled in different universities around the country and about 21% of these are females. In the early twentieth century, education for women was extremely rare due to the lack of schools for girls. Occasionally girls were able to receive an education on the primary level but they never moved past the secondary level. Kabul University was opened to girls in 1947 and by 1973 there were an estimated 150,000 girls in schools across Afghanistan. Unfortunately, marriage at a young age added to the high drop out rate but more and more girls were entering professions that were once viewed as just a male prerogative. Women were being given new opportunities to earn better lives for both themselves and their families. However, after the civil war and the takeover by the Taliban, women were stripped of these opportunities and sent back to lives where they have to stay at home and be controlled by their husbands and fathers. During the Taliban regime, many women who had previously been teachers began secretly giving an education to young girls in their neighborhoods, teaching from ten to sixty children at a time. The school locations were community homes for students, and were entirely financed and managed by women. Each day young girls would hide all their school supplies, such as books, notebooks and pencils, underneath their burqas to go to school. At these schools, young females were taught basic literary  and numeracy skills, and various other subjects such as biology, chemistry, English, Quran, cooking, sewing, and knitting. Many women involved in teaching were caught by the Taliban and persecuted, jailed, and tortured.  However, in 2015, the Kabul University began the first master's degree course in gender and women's studies in Afghanistan . 

In the last decade, Afghan women have participated to many sports, such as football, basketball and skiing. In 2015, occurred the first participation of a woman in a marathon  and previously, always for the first time, in 2004  Afghanistan sent women athletes to the Olympics.

Marriages in Afghanistan are usually in accordance with Islam and the culture of Afghanistan. The nation is a patriarchal society where it is commonly believed that elder men are entitled to make decisions for their families. A man can divorce his wife without the need of her agreement, whereas the opposite is not possible. 

According to a 2020 Musawah organization “Thematic report on art. 16, Muslim family law and Muslim women rights in Afghanistan” , Afghan laws and practices enforce de jure and de facto discrimination against women in the following areas: discriminatory legal framework, child marriage, divorce rights, polygamy, inheritance and matrimonial assets and guardianship of children. Art. 54 of the Constitution of Afghanistan states that the family is the fundamental pillar of the society, and shall be protected by the State. It commits the State to adopt necessary measures to attain the physical and spiritual health of the family, especially mothers and upbringing of children, as well as the elimination of the traditions contrary to the principles of the sacred religion of Islam . Afghanistan are mainly governed by the following codified laws: for the Sunni majority the Civil Code is the main codified law that governs matters relating to marriage and family relations.  Based on Art. 1(2) of the Civil Code, in the absence of codified laws that sufficiently address a particular matter of personal status of Sunnis, generally, the rules of Hanafi jurisprudence (fiqh) apply;  and for the Shia minority the Shiite Personal Status Law (SPSL) is the main codified law that governs matters relating to marriage and family relations. Based on Art. 2(3) of the SPSL, in the absence of codified laws that sufficiently address a particular matter of personal status of Shias, the rules of Jafari fiqh are generally applied.  

Despite the equality guarantee under Art. 22 of the Constitution, the Civil Code and the SPSL provide for a marital framework based on ‘reciprocal’ or ‘complementary’ rights (as opposed to ‘equal’ rights) between the two spouses, whereby in return for maintenance and protection from her husband, a wife is expected to obey him. Provisions in the family laws therefore discriminate. women as it is based on male authority and guardianship. In this field of discriminatory law, the    reform process appears to be delayed: according to the State Party report, in 2016 the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA) together with relevant ministries and organisations undertook efforts to review and draft a Family Law to replace the Civil Code. According to women’s rights groups who provided inputs into the draft, there is little information pertaining to the timeline and process of finalizing and enacting the new revised Family Law. The amendments and new provisions proposed have also been watered down and don’t address all the most urgent areas of discrimination under the Muslim family laws. The draft currently remains under review with the Ministry of Justice. Musawa recommend the CEDAW committee to urge the State party to ensure that the draft Family Law is based on equality between spouses and a timely enactment of the Family Law, following consultations with women’s rights groups. For both Sunnis and Shias, the minimum legal age for marriage is 16 for females and 18 for males as per Art. 70 of the Civil Code and Art. 99(1) of the SPSL.  However, marriages below the minimum legal age for marriage are permissible for both sects: For Sunnis: Art. 71(1) of the Civil Code provides that either a competent father or competent court may permit girls below 16 to marry. Art. 71(2) of the Civil Code absolutely prohibits the marriage of girls below 15; for Shias: Art. 99(2) and 99(3) of the SPSL provide that a guardian appearing before the court may permit girls and boys below 16 and 18, respectively, to marry if the marriage is considered necessary and in their best interest. The SPSL does not stipulate an absolute minimum age below which a marriage may not be authorised. According to women’s advocates, registration of marriages continues to be voluntary and as a result child and forced marriages are more likely to be unregistered. The lack of registration of marriages imposes difficulties on women with regard to their right to seek divorce in addition to their right to a dower (mahr), maintenance and child custody. The organization recommends the CEDAW committee to urge the State party to establish a standard minimum age of 18 years for all citizens of Afghanistan regardless of sex, sect, religion, tribe, geographic region, ensure mandatory registration of all marriages and facilitate a standard process for registering of marriages; improve awareness raising campaigns among tribal and rural communities about forced marriages and related penalties.

About polygamy, according to Art. 86 of the Civil Code and Art. 91 of the SPSL, both Sunni and Shia men may marry up to four wives. According to Afghanistan’s 2015 Demographic and Health Survey, 6% of marriages in Afghanistan are polygamous . The survey also found that: older women were more likely than younger women to have co-wives. For instance, 11% of married women aged 45-49 reported having co-wives, as compared with 3% of women aged 20-24; rural women were more likely to report having co-wives than urban women (7% versus 5%); lower educated women were slightly more likely to report having co-wives than higher educated women. Polygamous marriages in Afghanistan include: the very poor social status of divorcees which pressurises wives to agree to become a second or third wife to avoid being single; the view among men that the ability to enter into a polygamous marriage is an indication of material and social prestige; the failure of the existing wife to produce a male child; and the wife as an incurable disease. The organization recommends the Cedaw committee to urge the State party to ensure that  Family Law must contain provisions to prohibit polygamy, following examples of other Muslim countries. 

About “Divorce rights” between Muslim men and women there’s no equality. Both the Civil Code and the SPSL provide for three different mechanisms for divorce:  unilateral repudiation (talāq) by husbands; judicial divorce (fasakh) by wife on fault grounds; and redemptive divorce (khul’) by wife with consent of husband. The marriage may also be annulled. Under both the Civil Code and SPSL, the husband may unilaterally repudiate a marriage without much restrictions. While the Civil Code is silent on the requirement for witnesses to the repudiation, the SPSL specifically requires the presence of two male witnesses who must be Muslims. A woman can initiate a judicial divorce only on specific grounds and must follow a different procedure than for talaq. She also has the responsibility to bring the burden of proof. According to reports by the Afghan government as well as civil society, several factors restrict a wife’s right to divorce: many women are not aware of their right to seek judicial divorce. This is due to several reasons: because divorce is culturally unfavourable; the lack of access to legal representation for women in family matters; the fear of losing custody of her children. Both Sunni and Shia husbands may delegate their unilateral right to divorce to their wives (isma) through a stipulation in the marriage contract, thus permitting her to pronounce talāq upon herself. Musawa recommend the Cedaw committee to urge the State party to amend divorce provisions whereby Muslim men no longer have the right to unilaterally divorce their wives without reason or out of court, ensure divorce procedures are just and fair for women, especially in instances of harm (eg. domestic violence) and that all divorces must be administered via in the court after assessing the best interest of the parties and child/ren involved. Divorces must be registered via an official body and a divorce certificate/document issued to both parties.

About “Inheritance and matrimonial property”, there is no legal concept of matrimonial assets for both Sunnis and Shias, and inheritance rights between women and men are unequal, although  exceptions. The Civil Code and the SPSL detail the inheritance shares of beneficiaries. In many instances, women are entitled to half the share of the estate as compared to man. According to the Afghan government, it is relatively difficult for a woman to exercise her inheritance rights because: men often deprive women of this prerogative; women in turn do not ask for their inheritance because such requests are deemed ‘dishonourable’ and not socially acceptable; and in instances where women are courageous enough to ask for it, their access to justice is limited because women’s issues are not frequently considered by the competent authorities. Musawa recommends the Cedaw committee to urge the State party to introduce a matrimonial property regime, drawing from progressive legislation in other Muslim contexts such as Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore, that law on matrimonial property consider the financial and non-financial contributions of women during marriage and asks for reforms on granting inheritance on equal grounds for women and men.

About “guardianship of children”, both Sunni and Shia fathers have priority rights. For Sunnis, the Civil Code is silent on the person with the priority right over the guardianship of the children in a marriage. Nevertheless, it’s implied in the Civil Code that this priority right belongs to father through various provisions:  under Art. 71(1) of the Civil Code, the father may conclude the marriage of girls between 15 and 16 years of age; under Art. 252, as long as the mother is married, she can’t take the child on a journey without the permission of the father; under Art. 256, the father shall provide maintenance to his son, until he has the power to work, and his daughter until she gets married; under Art. 268, a father has priority guardianship over the property of his children. In addition, according to all Sunni schools of law, the father is obliged to provide for education, upbringing, development, health and security of the minor child. For Shias, Art. 45 of the SPSL specifies that a father and paternal grandfathers have priority right over the guardianship of his children without the authorisation of the court. They may appoint an alternative guardian to manage the affairs of minors. Musawa recommends the Cedaw committee to urge the State party to amend and/or enact family law provisions to ensure that mothers and fathers have equal right to guardianship over children and to pursuethe best interest of the child/ren.

About the equality in marriage and challenging the maintenance-for-obedience framework, this idea of complementarity of rights is a manifestation of male authority and guardianship over women. It doesn’t in practice lead to equality in rights and responsibilities between the husband and wife. Men who fail to provide don’t lose their authority over women and women who financially provide for the family don’t enjoy corollary rights and privileges. It has been claimed that Quranic principles promote equality between sexes, the principle of justice and fairness, equalitarian family laws and practices that are based on social justice and enable families and their individual members to reach their full potential. Women’s lives and stories reveal that laws based on male authority and guardianship over women are untenable, unjust and discriminatory. Far from creating harmony in marriage, these laws are the main causes of marital breakdown and violence against women, thus there’s urgent need for reforms. About the guardianship of children, Quran doesn’t discriminate:  it doesn’t distinguish between fathers and mothers. Even parents who are divorced should still exercise “mutual consent and due consultation”.

Musawah believes that Qur’anic principles and the richness of the Islamic juristic tradition enable us to formulate Muslim family laws today that are egalitarian and reflect the needs of contemporary societies. Islamic teachings and universal human rights standards, including the CEDAW Convention, are fully compatible and are dynamic and constantly evolving, based on changing times. Inspired by the Qur’anic vision of justice and gender relations, Musawah contends that gender equality and non-discrimination can only be achieved with laws that transform power relations in the family and in society in the direction of just outcomes.

The birth rate is 36.08 births/1,000 population as of 2021; the total fertility rate is 4.72 children born/woman (2021 est.) on a population of 37.5 million (July 2021 est.) and a  Population Growth 2.34% (2021 est.) .

Homosexuality and cross-dressing were capital crimes for Taliban, punished by long prison sentences. Members of the Lgbt community are forced to keep their gender identity and sexual orientation a secret in fear of harassment, intimidation, persecution, and death. The religious nature of the nation has limited any opportunity for public discussion, being homosexuality deemed taboo. 

The Constitution of Afghanistan establishes the prominence of Sharia law as a precursor to all other laws, policies and regulations, allowing for religious interpretations by the State in prohibiting all forms of same-sex sexual activity. Even the new Penal Code of 2018 has outlined and prohibited specific activities of a sexual nature, disproportionately affecting Lgbt community. Thus, it’s possible for Lgbt people in Afghanistan to be charged with violating Sharia law. These punishments are more likely to occur in isolated, rural communities where private citizens and vigilant groups strictly follow Islamic morals. In the cities, persons convicted of homosexuality are just generally sentenced to prison. All sexual behavior outside of a lawful Islamic marriage is illegal, with the maximum punishment being death. The Afghanistan Law of Marriages (1971)  stipulates that a legal marriage must be between two Muslim adults of the opposite sex, and that it must meet the rules of Islamic law. While the law does not explicitly address the issue of same-sex couples, Art. 41 of the Marriage Law stipulates that where the law is silent on a particular issue, the decisions must be based on the principles of Sharia. Hence, Afghanistan family law doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages, civil unions or domestic partnerships. No law exists to address discrimination or harassment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The Afghan Social Democratic Party stated that it favored an international effort to fight the Aids-Hiv pandemic, but that homosexuality and same-sex marriages are opposed by all great religions. No political party or interest group has expressed support for Lgbt rights. Afghanistan law currently prohibits a political party, interest group or social club from advocating anything that is in opposition to Islamic morality. Absent a change in the law, it is unlikely that a political or social organization advocating Lgbt rights will be permitted.

Afghanistan's population is over 99% Muslim, and Islam is the only official religion. Homosexuality is often linked with prostitution and pedophilia and the level of awareness about sexual orientation or gender identity is limited. In 2012, Nemat Sadat, a human rights activist and former professor of political science at the American University of Afghanistan, mobilized a Lgbt movement and on 22 Aug 2013, he became the first public figure to come out as gay and campaign for Lgbt rights, gender freedom, and sexual liberation .  

The application of the principles concerning gender affairs in Afghanistan may varies from group to group. Contradictions arise between traditional customary practices and the dictates of Islam are themselves subject to diverse interpretation among reformists and conservatives.

All agree that differences between men and women exist and are best preserved through recognized standards of behavior. None dispute the importance of women in the society. Respect for women is a notable characteristic and few wish to destroy this esteemed status in the name of Afghan culture values. The argument rages over definitions of what precisely represents a honorable behavior for women in modern realities. The current zealous need to protect women's morality stems from the fact that Afghan society perceives women as the perpetuators of the ideals of the society. As such they symbolize honor of family, community and nation, and must be controlled as well as protected so as to maintain moral purity. The practice of purdah, a Persian word standing for “curtain”, a current spread form of seclusion, including veiling, is the most visible manifestation of this attitude. Such restrictions are deemed necessary by conservative males because they consider women socially immature, with less moral control and physical restraint. According to the most conservative perspectives, women are untrustworthy and their isolation is paramount.

After 15 Sept 2021 Afghanistan’s international human rights obligations, according to UN Human Rights experts, for the recognition of a full participation in public and political life for all Afghan women have been put at risk. As a State party to the CEDAW since 2003, Afghanistan is required to eliminate discrimination against women in the political and public life of the country, and to ensure to women, on equal terms with men, the right to participate in the formulation and implementation of government policy, the right to hold public office and perform public functions at all levels of government including executive, judicial, administrative and other governing and key decision-making bodies. Ensuring women’s right to equal participation in political and public life in Afghanistan serves as a guarantee for a future for Afghan women and girls free of discrimination and violence. The Taliban in control of the territory is obliged to respect and protect human rights, as the duty to respect, protect and fulfil human rights obligations does not change every time new authorities take power, and as has been repeatedly reaffirmed, the duty applies regardless of states’ political, economic and cultural systems. 

UN Human Rights expert  condemn the marginalization of women in Afghanistan permitted to work in lower levels of government and in specific sectors, although the significant progress of the past two decades, such backsliding being harmful to the peace-building and development process of the country. The international commitments have made abundantly clear that peace and sustainable development is linked to equality between men and women, as stated in the Beijing Platform for Action and underlined in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Afghan women have demonstrated that they are not passive bystanders or only victims or targets, but active agents in peace-building and recovery processes, as human rights defenders, journalists, political activists, and public figures. Women’s full and equal participation must be seen as a guarantee of their fundamental human rights, including their right to work, education, housing, health, to freedom of expression and to participate in cultural life without discrimination, and essential to addressing the multiple crises confronting the country, with the spread of Covid-19, internal displacement, food insecurity and political instability. It’s important understanding that women are not just one more vulnerable group. They are half or more of the population in every sub-group and face very specific risks, from targeted violence to deprivation of liberty, education, livelihood and health care including right to reproductive health and services, and heightened threats of underage and forced marriage. Their situation is aggravated by multiple forms of discrimination based on different grounds, including but not limited to, their age, ethnicity, religion or belief, geographic location and status as displaced persons or refugees.

 The Working Group on discrimination against women and girls has observed in its work on Afghan political transitions that the impact on gender equality in public and political life is related not only to the nature of regime change but also to the political will to guarantee women’s human rights, including the right to equal representation, as when women’s voices and the issue of women’s and girls’ human rights are absent from the political negotiations and from public discourse, even in democratic environments, pre-existing guarantees of gender equality in the law, including in national constitutions, can be challenged and new discriminatory provisions can be introduced in the legal framework at national and/or subnational levels.

The Special Rapporteur on violence against women noted that in Afghanistan women are discriminated on the base of gender and discouraged and restricted in the political participation. 

This flagrant exclusion of women in the public and political life of Afghanistan must be urgently rectified at this critical moment. Un experts recall the international commitment made in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action in 1993 that recognized the primacy of women’s human right to equality, stating that “The human rights of women and the girl-child are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights. The full and equal participation of women in political, civil, economic, social and cultural life, at the national, regional and international levels, and the eradication of all forms of discrimination on grounds of sex are priority objectives of the international community.”

International human rights mechanisms have also made clear that women’s right to equality and non-discrimination must prevail in any claimed clash with what are purported to be “traditional”, historical, religious interpretations or cultural attitudes inconsistent with them.

 Women’s inequality before the law intersects with all other prohibited grounds of discrimination and contributes to the perpetuation of all forms of historical inequality that represents the main root of violent conflicts. Peace-building and conflict transformation processes present unique opportunities for the elimination of discrimination against women in law and practice. International human rights mechanisms include the Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls, the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, and the CEDAW Committee called on Afghanistan to eliminate discrimination against women and girls that work on removing impacting discriminatory provisions from the Civil Code, the Criminal Code and the Shia Personal Status Law such as provisions allowing child marriage for girls, polygamy, discrimination against women in the family, and the criminalization of adultery. UN Experts also claim a further strengthening of the Constitution by including specific grounds of discrimination, the amendment of the Criminal Code that include provisions criminalizing all forms of gender-based violence against women.  While the 2009 promulgation of the EVAW law by presidential decree was an important step forward, it has now been rolled back and women have been left with no access to justice.  

The international community must listen to the voices of Afghan women who are rightfully demanding a safe and secure environment for their full and equal participation in the country’s public and political life and a role in shaping its future.  The protection of women’s and girls’ rights must be central to all laws, policies, political processes and institutional practice and the allocation of resources must be aligned with their priorities which include freedom from violence, freedom of movement and of expression, access to education and health care including reproductive health care, equal participation in cultural life, the right to work.  

Therefore, the international community must immediately call for the immediate cessation of violence by state and non-state actors in Afghanistan and compliance with international human rights law; support the renewal of the mandate of UNAMA and ensure the continued implementation of its mandate with a gendered lens; call for reinstating the Ministry of Women’s Affairs that was vital to ensuring the access of women and girls to services across the country and ensure that women participate fully in the management and distribution of humanitarian assistance that Afghans are in urgent need of, and to which they can get access without impediment; ensure  independent fact-finding and accountability mechanism to document and investigate past and ongoing human rights violations and international crimes by state and non-state actors in Afghanistan ; promote financial and political investment and support. 

In facts, in order to satisfy victims' demands for justice, important national policy papers, initiatives, and action plans, such as the UNSCR 1325, the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS), the National Action Plan for Afghan Women all supported women's legal status. However, due to prevailing corruption, insecurity and conservative societal practices, such laws and policies faced significant challenges in practice.

International organizations, national governments and civil society efforts resulted in the Women, Peace and Security Agenda through the adoption of UNSCR 1325 on peace and security that in Oct 2020 celebrated its 20th anniversary.

In 2000, the UNSC formally acknowledged through this resolution the changing nature of warfare, in which civilians are increasingly targeted, and women continue to be excluded from participation in peace processes. The resolution specifically addresses how women and girls are disproportionally impacted by violent conflict and war and recognizes the critical role that women can play in peacebuilding efforts. The Resolution urges all actors to increase the participation of women and  incorporates gender perspectives in all UN peace and security efforts. Parties engaged in conflict must take special measures to protect women and girls from all forms of gender-based violence, especially rape and other forms of sexual abuse. Each of its mandates falls into one UNSCR 1325’s four basic pillars: participation, protection, prevention and relief. The experiences of men and women in war are different. In these differences, women offer a vital perspective in the analysis of conflict as well as providing strategies toward peacebuilding, increasing inclusiveness, transparency and sustainability of peace processes.

In alignment with the Resolution, international criminal courts and laws have adopted new standards and set clear precedent through the prosecution of sexual violence as a crime against humanity and war crime. Peaceful masculinities is a complementary approach to Women, Peace and Security that examines how men’s identity is often connected to the use of violence and seeks to develop a more peaceful, nonviolent approach to solving conflict.

On the basis of Res. 1325 have been launched a series of other resolutions, each addressing a unique concern regarding the protection of women and girls during conflict, and their participation in decision-making processes. We mention SCR 1820,: passed in 2008, that recognizes that conflict-related sexual violence is a tactic of warfare and calls for enforcement of zero-tolerance policies for peacekeepers with regards to acts of sexual exploitation or abuse; SCR 1888,: passed in 2009, that strengthens the implementation of Res. 1820 by calling for leadership to address conflict-related sexual violence, deployment of teams to critical conflict areas, and improved monitoring and reporting on conflict trends; SCR 1889, passed in 2009, that addresses obstacles to women’s participation in peace processes and calls for development of global indicators to track the implementation of Res. 1325; SCR 1960, passed in 2010 that calls for an end to sexual violence in armed conflict against women and girls, and provides measures aimed at ending impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence, including through sanctions and reporting measures; SCR 2106, passed in 2013, that calls for the further deployment of Women Protection Advisers on addressing sexual violence; SCR 2122, passed in 2013, that calls on all parties to peace talks to facilitate equal and full participation of women in decision-making, in peacemaking; SCR 2242, passed in 2015, that highlights the role of women in countering violent extremism and addresses the differential impact of terrorism on the human rights of women and girls; SCR 2467, passed in 2019, it recognizes that sexual violence occurs on a continuum of violence against women and girls and stresses the responsibility of addressing root causes of sexual violence, specifically structural gender inequality and discrimination; SCR 2493, passed in 2019, that urges U.N. member states to commit to implementing the nine previously adopted Women, Peace, and Security resolutions.

On Apr 2008, the Government of Afghanistan released its vision for poverty reduction in the form of the ANDS, attracting over $20 bln in aid pledges from international donors earmarked for its implementation. Although coordinated by the Afghan government, the development of ANDS was in many ways highly skewed towards meeting the goals and deadlines of international donors, due in part to its potential to be an internationally-approved Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). 

The ANDS, formally approved by President Karzai is the document that outlines the Government of Afghanistan’s strategies for security, governance, economic growth and poverty reduction. Started as an interim report in 2005, it’s the product of intensive consultations between the Afghan government and a wide array of stakeholders including tribal and religious leaders, the private sector, NGOs, and the international community. 

The ANDS layed out the following goals: security, Governance, Rule of Law and Human Rights, Economic and Social Development. Along with the ANDS, the Afghanistan Compact serves as the primary mechanism for coordinating future Afghan and international reconstruction. Launched on  31 Jan 2006 at the London Conference for Afghanistan, the Afghanistan Compact marked the formal end of the Bonn Process.

Afghanistan adopted its first National Action Plan (NAP) in 2015, for the period 2015-2018 and 2019-2022, to be implemented in two phases. The NAP was developed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which serves as the head of the Steering Committee that will work in collaboration with  government agencies, civil society, and international organisations for its implementation and monitoring. The NAP was  developed to address the challenges women face in the aftermath of war and conflict in Afghanistan, and is organised under the primary pillars of S/RES/1325 (2000). Nevertheless, it does not address disarmament issues, nor does it connect the proliferation of weapons with women’s insecurity. There have been numerous difficulties in terms of resourcing the NAP implementation. 

Capacity building of points for NAP completed with technical assistance from UNWOMEN. Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA) reported that there is a roster of 66 women covering 34 provinces in Afghanistan, participating in peace negotiations. 

In 2019, Afghanistan was among the top 15 countries in the world with the biggest increase in their military expenditure, it has ratified in 2020 the arms trade treaty and had until 2019 a military expenditure of $ 227 mln out of a GDP, estimated in 2020 of $77.04 billion 

The development of the NAP was initiated in coordination with civil society, and conducted through the establishment of the following structures: Steering Committee with the Minister of Foreign Affairs as the Chairperson Member; Technical Working Group representatives from international organizations and foreign diplomatic missions in Kabul; Drafting Committee; Coordination Committee.

 Under the Strategic Objective "Enhancing Women’s meaningful participation in the reconciliation, negotiation, and re‐integration at all levels", civil society organisations are assigned the action of "Establish a national roaster of potential women negotiators from all 34 provinces". The government recognises the important role of civil society as an independent monitoring and evaluation body for the successful implementation of the NAP, along with a separate Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Plan, including annual monitoring, mid-term (after two years) and final review (Evaluation) in the fourth year. The M&E Plan will include tracking and monitoring of financing for the NAP to ensure transparent and effective implementation, for which the Steering Committee is responsible.

The Taliban's policies on rights and freedoms are not always clear, and their actions sometimes contradict their rhetoric. The overall situation about the implementation of Human Rights in Afghanistan seems to be deteriorated rather than improved. On the one hand, on several occasions they have stated that women can do what is permissible within the confines of an Islamic and Sharia framework. In practice, when boys' high schools opened a few weeks ago, girls' did not , and Kabul University's newly appointed chancellor has forbidden women from enrolling in the country's largest and oldest public university. Women have also been ordered not to return to work in some public offices, whereas in others they have resumed their work. This situation is compounded by a major humanitarian crisis that is looming in Afghanistan. The IDPs has surpassed 5 million, with more than 600,000 people displaced this year, of which 80% constitute women and children. They are in dire need of shelter, food, medication and heating facilities for Afghanistan’s harsh winter. In addition, chronic poverty, the Covid-19 pandemic, a severe drought, a failing health system, and an economy on the verge of collapse have had a significant impact on millions of Afghans. The UN Human Rights Council has recently appointed a Special Rapporteur on October 2021 to monitor human rights situation in Afghanistan. While it is critical to take immediate and coordinated action to prevent further human rights violations, it is also imperative not to let this urgency preclude justice to victims of Afghanistan’s war,  who account for nearly 70% of the total population.  

On the momentum of the UN committees urge of Taliban respect and implementation of human rights of women and girls , and the pressure exerted by activists, a diverse array of human rights organisations have come together to establish an alliance to collectively monitor the dire human rights situation in Afghanistan and advocate for the protection of human rights and accountability for all violations and abuses.

The Alliance for Human Rights in Afghanistan members include Amnesty International, Front Line Defenders, Freedom House, Freedom Now, Human Rights Watch (HRW), MADRE, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).

The situation of human rights in Afghanistan has dramatically worsened since the collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban’s return to power on 15 Aug 2021. The fighting in the country has ended but serious human rights infringements keeps on going relentless, while the nation plunge into an institutional chaos in which it has been found more difficult, than that it was figured out, reaching a consensus about a new shared constitution, being the 2004 been suspended, and a political framework that could mend religious dogmas and traditions with the international standards set by all the organizations it belongs(among others in the region SAARC, ECO, OIC and it holds an observer status in SCO.).

The prospected scenario for women rights doesn’t seem to be more comforting. After the fall of Kabul they have seen deprived themselves of the minimal basic freedoms and rights, the situation rolling back to the pre-Ghani (64) regency.  “There has never been a greater need for human rights organizations to unite and ask for accountability and justice for the people of Afghanistan. People in Afghanistan are caught between the Taliban abuses and a humanitarian disaster, and the international community can and should do more to protect them”, as Amnesty International reported .

As reported in “La Repubblica” media experts fear that as the international community shifts its attention to the war in Ukraine, the Taliban may take advantage of the opportunity and intensify “persecution, torture and murders” and a number of female journalist asked Italian government to help them flee their country to save their lives.  Many women activist women keep on inflaming the protests in the streets of all the democratic but also Islamic moderate countries in which they have found refuge to gain the support of the occidental powers in defense of their rights and freedoms . Enough to say that many of them are impeded to leave Afghanistan, undergoing severe restriction of the freedom of women for women inside the country and unimaginably hardlier outside it. Again, in the same journal has been reported how women Afghan organizations claim their women rights from outside their country in the interest of their fellow countrywomen and the Onu denunciation of the murder of 400 civilians after Taliban take over . Taliban have restricted the women rights and freedoms denounces the High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet but the main treat comes from this Islamic state responsible for the 80% of the victims. Local media reported the re-opening of public and private universities 20 days after the taliban assumed power, but the difference was that boys and girls had to continue their education separately. After the shift of power occurred last year, women activists have been the only main resistance to the Islamic Emirate, claiming their fundamental rights, and the fierce repression of their protests seems having reached the target to silence their voice inside their country. The same is happening for judges and prosecutorsfired without any specific reasons and after not receiving their salaries for several months.

On Oct 2021, the Islamic Emirate welcomed the reopening of the EU’s office in Kabul, saying that the step could be the beginning of engagement with European countries.  “The decision of the European Union to reopen its office in the near future is a good step and it is in the interest of the people of Afghanistan,” said Ahmadullah Wasiq, deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate. They will evaluate their work from the vicinity and they will restart their political activities in a limited way in Kabul .  On the same month, Members of the Taliban delegation, including Hanafi and acting Foreign Minister Muttaqi, take part in international talks on Afghanistan in Moscow on October 20.

Russia hosted a high-level Taliban delegation for talks attended by officials from China, Pakistan, and eight other countries, as Moscow seeks to assert its influence on Central Asia amid worries about instability or violence spilling from Afghanistan into the region. The US did not attend the meeting. The October 20 conference in Moscow was one of the Taliban’s most significant international meetings since the militants seized control of Kabul from the internationally recognized government in mid-August. Addressing the gathering, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia recognized Taliban’s “efforts to stabilize the military and political situation and set up work of the state apparatus,” as terrorist groups such as the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda were trying to “take advantage” of instability . Lately, during these days, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Muttaqi is holding several rounds of meeting focused on strenghtning the partnership with Central Asia countries, such as Uzbekistan, in relation to embolden security and unity in Afghanistan and  to implement trade, energy, transportation & other major projects.Minister Muttaqi stressed that regional countries in a fast transforming political, economic & security environment should increase confidence in each other to save the region from repercussions of political changes . Muttaqi is attending also other meetings with the Minister of Information and Culture Mullah Khairullah Khairkhwah visiting the Afghan Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, and met with Afghan diplomats, citizens and students . There’s a good hope then the an opening to dialogue on  these so sensitive topics for the democratization process and alignment with international standards and the economic development of the country could take place and a real willingness of change from the past avoid the jeopardy of a come back to past repressive and oppressive Taliban regimes. As a matter of fact, what’s going on in this country on the institutional level and which are the projects for the new constitution  is covered by a veil of mystery, being all the official web resources blank, not working, still on Ghani government  or blocked. Thus in this void on the divulgation of official information on media and institutional sources, all let us figure out how great could be the internal divisions between moderate and conservative about the destiny to give to Afghanistan, especially about the removed Ministry of Women Affairs and at the same time an attempt to protect its international engagements with western and Asiatic international organization to which it belongs. Below the horizon, we can deem that Internal Affairs are kept secret for an increased dissent and obvious divisions and nothing could let’s think about an unwinding period, above all for the financial collapse and humanitarian needs in which the country is plunged after years of wars, undermined by  terrorism. 

The Taliban announced 07 Sept 2021 an interim government in Afghanistan, declaring the country an "Islamic Emirate". It will be led by Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhunda as the new leader of the government of Afghanistan. In a statement attributed to Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada the government will uphold Sharia law. He submitted: "First and foremost, I congratulate our suffering and proud nation on withdrawal of all foreign forces, end of the occupation, and complete liberation of the country."

"As a caretaker and committed cabinet has been announced by the authorities of the Islamic Emirate to control and run the affairs of the country which will start functioning at the earliest, I assure all the countrymen that the figures will work hard towards upholding Islamic rules and Sharia law in the country, protecting the country's highest interests, securing Afghanistan borders and to ensuring lasting peace, prosperity and development God willing," he added.

Additionally Akhundzada said "Our previous twenty years of struggle and jihad had two major goals. Firstly to end foreign occupation and aggression and to liberate the country, and secondly to establish a complete independent stable and central Islamic system in the country."

"We want to have a peaceful, prosperous and a self reliant Afghanistan, for which we will strive to eliminate all causes of war and strife in the country, and our countrymen to live in complete security and comfort," he said.

He said that the Islamic Emirate will take serious and effective steps towards protecting human rights , the rights of minorities as well as the rights of the underprivileged groups within the framework of the sacred religion of Islam. On education, he submitted that it is one of the most important requirements of the country and that his government will have a duty to provide a healthy and safe environment for religious and modern sciences to all countrymen within the framework of Sharia.

Taliban officials had claimed that their new government would include different political and ethnic groups, but the interim setup is dominated by their old guard. "The Taliban do not see the need for an inclusive government anymore. For them it is more important that powerful figures are leading their government so that they can crush potential resistance movements," Sami Yousufzai, an Afghan journalist, told DW. "They have appointed ministers on the basis of their loyalties to the group," he added.

The European Union on 08 September 2021 said that the Taliban-appointed caretaker government "does not look like the inclusive and representative formation in terms of the rich ethnic and religious diversity of Afghanistan we hoped to see and that the Taliban were promising over the past weeks." 

In conclusions, aberrant is the ongoing treatment of women under Taliban regime, despite the attempts of adaptations and implementations of UN resolutions, directives and negotiations and the NAPs. The internationally hailed principles on the protection of their human rights and prevention of crimes are not incontrovertible truths and realms but objects of the changing, swinging interpretations of the Sharia. More and more marginalized in every aspect of private and public  life, Afghan women are de facto still secluded and isolated not for sake of protection but to be abused and destroyed in any of their needs and aspirations to live alike animals with reproductive functions, completely subordinated to the undebated will of authoritarian men in a patriarchal society that leave them a well luring social perspective of famine, starvation, ignorance, unemployment, terror and lack of financial and medical resources. This is the result of the implementation of their god will, currently refraining even the most powerful international organizations to provide concrete help and to facilitate the resurgence of the destiny of what is still considered to be the frail sex. As a matter of facts, women in this country don’t have even the possibility to live as a “normal” human being, and talking about a full and integrated participation in public life and a boosting of leadership appear to be a long-distant utopia. These are the sceneries offered to them by their conception of Islam and useless have been the attempts of civilization and democratization by the international community that finally has frozen financial aids, being the greatest part spent in weapons, and that they even dare to reject, in the name of a war against the US that has always relentlessly tried to find acceptable solutions for an enhanced cooperation in humanitarian, economical and health terms with zero tolerance against violence, terrorism, indiscriminate injustices and social discrepancies. Thus, in this case, we are in front of an overt inequality despite the unhelpful attempts made by the International community to sensitize their stubborn and intransigent cultures, to make the mentalities progress and adapt themselves to the evolution of time, to educate to the respect of the normal need of each human being and to the tolerance towards the other, to open up and take advantage to an international actors that don’t provide perfect solutions, sight unseen, but that always try in the compromise and the mediation to design new opportunities in the spirit of solidarity that could be forged in the shape of their realities, even if different, unwelcoming and degraded, in the name of the dignity of each human being, especially women, other than girls, that represents the core essence and the most fragile soul of the society, a veil, a litmus paper the takes back mirroring the destiny of the communities in which they live and in which the feminine principles should be the true masters. This in facts, as Whitman teach us in the “Leaves of grassW, about the essence of feminine principle in society and the democratic processes, is what happens when we oblige the mouth of the mother dwelling in each of us is valved, grasping the level of upheaval. They get what they sow as the woman and the values she embodies and symbolizes are the cornerstones of the unique way for the realization of a more pacific world, in which a real progress is possible and for all. It should be necessary instead focusing the attention on the fact that these men that are born from the womb of women to destroy their placenta and repudiate them  haven’t understood that if there isn’t any respect and prospect for women, there isn’t either one for humanity and this world won’t have a future, will die sterile and will stumble in its willing of power itself, spreading out destruction and death in a war for supremacy.  

Essential Bibliography and Internet sources:

Statement by United Nations Human Rights Experts OHCHR | Statement by United Nations Human Rights Experts, 15 Sept 2021

How the Taliban’s Victory Will Boost the Jihadi Narrative, Tore Refslund Hamming, 10 September 2021 Ispi Publications

How the Twenty-Year Afghanistan War Paved the Way for New Insurrectional Terrorism

Claudio Bertolotti, 2021, Ispi publications

After Afghanistan, Will the Middle East Experience an Increase in Terrorism?,Andrea Plebani, 01 December 2021, Ispi Publications

The Unending Cycle of Violence and Human Rights Violations in Afghanistan, Huma Saeed

11 October 2021, Ispi Publications

Crisis to watch: Afghanistan, Antonio Giustozzi, 22 December 2021, Ispi publications

Afghanistan’s Looming Catastrophe, Why the United States and Its Allies Must Act Now to Prevent a Humanitarian Disaster, P. Michael McKinley, December 3, 2021, Foreign Affairs

Review of final months begins three months after Afghanistan withdrawal - CNNPolitics

Zalmay Khalilzad, US envoy for Afghanistan steps down following chaotic evacuation - CNNPolitics

US calls talks with Taliban 'candid and professional' following Doha meeting - CNNPolitics

September 13, 2021 Blinken hearing on US Afghanistan withdrawal (cnn.com)

Afghanistan: Humanitarian crisis threatens basic human rights | | UN News

Top Human Rights News of 2021 | Human Rights Watch (hrw.org)

1325 National Action Plans – An initiative of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (peacewomen.org)

http://www.unwomen.org  Gender-alert-Womens-rights-in-Afghanistan-en.pdf (unwomen.org), 2021

Cheshmak Farhoumand-Sims, Cedaw and Afghanistan, Journal of International Woman studies, November 2009

http://www.standup4humanrights.org

Afghanistan National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325 – Women,Peace and Security 2015-2022– http://unama.unmissions.org 

www.undp.org/content/dam/afghanistan/docs/ANDS_Full_Eng.pdf

Hardliners get key posts in new Taliban government - BBC News, 7 sept 2021

Afghanistan’s Failed Constitution – The Diplomat