What changed

B100255/2026

B100254/2026

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 itsRule previous150 resolutionsof onits Afghanistan,rules of procedure,

– having regard to Rules 150(5) and 136(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

whereas on 5 January 2026, the Taliban leader endorsed the new Criminal Procedure Code for Courts and ordered its publication; whereas on 8 January, the Taliban’s Supreme Court Secretariat circulated the code for its implementation;

whereas since the Taliban's illegal seizure of power in 2021, Afghan women and girls have been subjected to systematic persecution through more than 150 edicts depriving them of education beyond sixth grade, employment, justice, freedom of movement, healthcare and public life;

whereas the code deepens the erosion of women’s rights, denying victims and survivors of gender-based violence vital avenues for protection and redress, while removing essential safety mechanisms by restricting their freedom to seek shelter with family members; whereas the code adds to an extensive regulatory framework imposing brutal restrictions on women and girls, amounting to gender apartheid;

whereas on 4 January 2026 the Taliban adopted the so-called Criminal Procedure Code for Courts imposed without democratic process;

whereas the code reinforces cruel and inhuman punishments, including the death penalty for a wide range of broadly defined offences such as habitual sodomy; whereas the use of corporal punishment has sharply increased, disproportionately targeting women, girls and LGBT+ people for so-called moral crimes;

whereas the Code legalises domestic violence, criminalises women seeking protection with relatives from abuse, institutionalises corporal punishment amounting to torture under international law, recognises slavery, prescribes the death penalty for a broad range of offences without fair trial guarantees, and entrenches discrimination based on gender, religion and social status, in violation of Afghanistan's obligations under the ICCPR, the CAT and the Slavery Convention to which it is a State Party;

whereas the code violates the principle of legality through vague and arbitrary offence definitions, removes fair trial guarantees, and severely restricts legal defence and freedom of expression;

whereas the Code formally grants husbands discretionary authority to punish wives for disobedience; whereas women who leave Islam face indefinite imprisonment and repeated corporal punishment; whereas the Code contains no right to legal representation, no right to silence and no safeguards against forced confession;

Strongly condemns the new Criminal Procedure Code for Courts approved by the Taliban; urges the de facto authorities to immediately revoke it and stop its implementation, and to fulfil their commitments under international law;

whereas the Taliban have sharply increased public floggings and corporal punishments, including against at least 170 women in 2025;

Condemns in the strongest possible terms the state-sanctioned violence, oppression and discrimination that women face at the hands of the Taliban; calls on the de facto authorities to lift all restrictions and immediately restore women’s and girls’ full participation in public life;

whereas the Taliban regime amounts to institutionalised gender persecution and gender apartheid; whereas only the Russian Federation has recognised the Taliban; whereas on 8 July 2025 the ICC issued arrest warrants against Akhundzada and Haqqani for the crime against humanity of gender persecution;

Stands in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan; strongly condemns the persistent violation of women’s and girls’ human rights, which amounts to a crime against humanity, as well as the systemic discrimination and persecution of LGBT+ people and minority communities;

Strongly condemns the Taliban's so-called Criminal Procedure Code for Courts; calls on the Taliban regime to immediately revoke it and stop its implementation;

Urges the EU and its Member States to provide sustained financial, technical and political support to the investigative mechanism for Afghanistan established by the UN Human Rights Council, and to support accountability efforts at the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and other forms of universal or extraterritorial jurisdiction;

Declares that the cumulative effect of Taliban edicts constitutes slavery and gender apartheid; Calls for an immediate end to public floggings, corporal punishment and executions;

Calls on the EU and its Member States to adhere strictly to the Council’s five benchmarks, and to use all available instruments to pressure the Taliban to restore human rights; rejects normalising relations and negotiating with Taliban representatives to facilitate forced returns of Afghan citizens; urges host countries to uphold non-refoulement obligations and to halt all expulsions to Afghanistan, especially of women, girls and other persons at risk of persecution;

Calls on the CouncilEU and theits CommissionMember toStates adoptto thistake characterisationconcrete insteps alltowards diplomaticthe engagementrecognition and tocodification supportof itsgender codificationapartheid as a crime against humanity in the proposed Crimes Againstunder Humanityinternational Treaty;law;

Calls on the EU and Member States to maintain non-recognition and non-normalisation of the Taliban, making any engagement strictly conditional on verifiable progress on women's and girls' rights; reiterates full support for the ICC arrest warrants and urges Member States to cooperate in their enforcement;

Calls on the EU and its Member States to step up humanitarian aid and to strengthen support for Afghan civil society and human rights and women’s rights defenders;

Calls on the Council to extend the EU Magnitsky Act to Taliban leaders responsible for the persecution of women and girls, including travel bans and asset freezes;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the HR/VP, the UN and the de-facto authorities in Afghanistan.

Calls on the Commission and the VP/HR to expedite the CEDAW proceedings initiated in September 2024 and to report transparently to Parliament on their progress;

Urges the EU and Member States to increase support for Afghan women human rights defenders, judges, lawyers, journalists, civil society activists and women-led organisations;

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