What changed

B100251/2026

B100246/2026

European Parliament resolution on the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan following the Taliban’sTaliban's adoption of the Criminal Procedure Code for Courts

(2026/2737(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to Rule 150(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

whereas on 5 January 2026, the Taliban leader endorsed the “Criminal Procedure Regulation of the Courts”;

whereas the adoption by the Afghan de facto authorities, of the Criminal Procedure Code for Courts, represents a dangerous escalation in the institutionalisation of repression and discrimination;

whereas since their return to power, the Taliban have imposed various restrictions on women, including “vice and virtue” regulations, education bans, dress-code decrees, travel, mobility and employment restrictions, and restrictions on public participation; whereas these measures amount to a systematic exclusion of women and girls from public life, justified by the Taliban’s own interpretation of Islamic law, jurisprudence and traditional Afghan social norms;

whereas the Code institutionalizes torture and other ill-treatment, allows the death penalty for a wide range of offences, entrenches discrimination based on gender, religion, belief, ethnicity and social status, and undermines freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief;

whereas the European Court of Justice ruled on 4 October 2024 that gender and nationality suffice to grant Afghan women asylum;

whereas the Code further restricts the movement, autonomy, education and participation in public life of women and girls, while normalising gender-based violence ;

whereas the European Commission started “exploratory contacts” with the Taliban in 2025, following a call from 19 EU Member States and Norway to coordinate a strategy for returning Afghan nationals; whereas the Commission now plans to invite representatives of the Taliban for talks on returns of Afghans;

whereas since 2021 the Taliban have systematically undermined women’s rights including by barring women from work, education, and public life, normalizing gender-based violence and dismantling the support system for victims of violence;

Deplores the situation of women in girls in Afghanistan; deplores that the Taliban have denied girls post-primary education, banned women from numerous public places and restricted their employment to healthcare and primary education; considers that these very restrictive norms have a very negative economic and social impact and deliberately push women and girls into dependence and poverty;

whereas such provisions reinforce a system of gender apartheid;

Notes that the criminal procedure code is applied in a system without independent courts and characterised by the absence of due process, the reliance on uncodified jurisprudence and the lack of institutional checks on interpretation or enforcement;

whereas the Code also criminalises same-sex relations exposing LGBTQI+ persons to arbitrary detention, torture and execution; whereas people returning to Afghanistan remain at heightened risk of arbitrary detention, torture and violence under this legal framework permitting punishment based on confession, testimony or ideological suspicion;

Notes that the primary function of the criminal procedure code is to regulate the application of discretionary punishment (ta’zir), and that the code expands judicial discretion in areas such as women’s mobility, family disputes or interpersonal conduct;

whereas Afghanistan is currently gripped by three converging crises: escalating hostilities along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border triggering displacement, ripple effects of the Middle East crisis, and an unprecedented hunger and malnutrition emergency;

Notes that different elements of the code such as the differentiated application of discretionary punishment based on the condition or status of the offender, reflect long-standing doctrines within classical Hanafi jurisprudence, predating the Taliban by centuries;

Condemns the Taliban´s system of gender apartheid, and urges the repeal of all discriminatory measures which institutionalise the exclusion of women and girls from public, economic and civic life;

Calls on the EU to change its strategy and to find pathways to incentivise the Taliban to introduce reforms, leading to an improvement of girls and women’s rights and their access to education;

Highlights that Taliban control continues to represent an extremely dangerous environment for broad parts of the population; urges the immediately end of widespread and systematic human rights violations against the Afghan people, and of all discriminatory practices based on religion, gender, social status, race and ethnicity;

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Is concerned about the ECJ’s judgment of 4 October 2024; considers that this judgment will create an additional “pull effect” and lead to unequal access to protection, as a certain group of people can be granted an automatic preference in obtaining asylum; strongly rejects the fact that the EU’s highest court of law determines and changes asylum law in order to promote its views on social justice;

Strongly condemns the announced EU talks with Taliban representatives on the return of Afghan citizens; demands to immediately halt all deportations and any negotiations on returns, as Afghanistan cannot be considered a safe country; urges EU Member States to establish safe and legal pathways, including through increased resettlement quotas, humanitarian visas and easier family reunification procedures, particularly for women and girls;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the European External Action Service, and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

Calls to ensure that no policy decisions contribute to legitimizing a regime that systematically violates the rights of women, girls and ethnic minorities;

Calls on the EU and its member states to recognize the crime of gender apartheid under international law, including in the crimes against humanity convention being currently negotiated;

Urges to increase support and humanitarian aid for Afghan organisations defending women and girls´ rights and combating famine in Afghanistan; calls to ensure adequate resources for the UN independent investigative mechanism for Afghanistan;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the EU institutions, Member States, and the de facto authorities of Afghanistan.