The UN has denounced that Afghanistan is the “most repressive” country for women

under the International Women’s DayTHE UN on Wednesday he urged Taliban rulers to end the restrictions they place on women in Afghanistan, a country they described as the “world’s most repressive” against them.

“Afghanistan, under the rule of the Taliban, remains the most repressive country in the world when it comes to women’s rights,” Roza Otunbayeva, head of the United Nations assistance mission in Afghanistan, said at the Security Council meeting.

She also noted that it was “heartbreaking to witness their methodical, deliberate and systematic efforts” to keep Afghan women and girls “outside the public sphere”.

Since their return to power in August 2021, the Taliban – a radical Islamist movement – have stepped up restrictions on women, the agency said. Over there they were banned from the university and cannot enter secondary education.

Coinciding with the worldwide celebration of Women’s Day, experts recalled that 2002 was the first year in which Afghan women and girls were able to celebrate this day.

“Women in Afghanistan are denied basic rights and freedoms, including the rights to education, work, physical and mental health, and freedom of movement,” they said. And they claimed that the Taliban They “erased” 20 years of progress.

Furthermore, they recalled that since the Taliban’s takeover of power, women are “totally excluded” from public offices and the judiciarymust abide by a strict dress code and may not travel more than 75 kilometers from home without the company of a close relative. Also in November, the Taliban blocked access to parks, gardens, gyms and public toilets.

“Women across the country report feeling invisible, isolated, suffocated, and living in prison-like conditions,” the experts stressed.

For all of the above, the signatories of that UN statement called on the Afghan authorities to respect their human rights obligations and lift all vetoes imposed on women in the country.

Among the experts signing this declaration are the United Nations Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, and the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Farida Shaheed. Representatives from Albania, Brazil, Ecuador, France, Gabon, Japan, Malta, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates also joined.

Meanwhile, about twenty women demonstrated today in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, the news agency reported AFP extension.

“The time has come for the United Nations to take decisive action for the fate of the people,” said one of the protesters during the protest.

Russia refuses to criticize Taliban for restrictions on women

Russia Wednesday she dodged any criticism of the Taliban’s crackdown on women at a UN Security Council meeting where the UN representative for Afghanistan and other countries sharply criticized Kabul’s policies.

Faced with numerous criticisms and messages of concern from the rest of the member states, Russia has decided to do so do not address abuse against women and focused most of his speech on criticizing the legacy of US military intervention, Western sanctions against the Taliban, and warning of the danger of Islamic State (IS) terrorism in the country.

“Building a lasting and sustainable peace in Afghanistan is impossible without continuing to patiently and pragmatically engage with the new authorities and do so on a broad range of pressing issues, including issues of political inclusion, the fight against terrorism and drugs, and the rights human beings, including those of women and girls,” said Russian representative Anna Evstigneeva, in her only mention of the issue.

Although he did not join the initial statement of several UN members, China -who has sought rapprochement with the Taliban- drew the Council’s attention to the situation of women, asked for international support and hoped that their right to study and free work be restored.

db