What changed

B100258/2026

P10_TA(2026)0186

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

(2026/2737(RSP))

PE783.290

European Parliament resolution of 21 May 2026 on the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s adoption of the Criminal Procedure Code for Courts (2026/2737(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Afghanistan;Afghanistan,

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

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A. 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;

B. whereas in January 2026, the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have adopted a newthe Criminal Procedure Code for Courts that(the furtherCode), entrencheswhich discriminatorycriminalises practicescriticism andof institutionalisesthe severeauthorities restrictionsand ongrants fundamentaljudges rightsbroad anddiscretionary freedoms;powers;

whereas Afghan women and girls continue to face systematic exclusion from education, employment, political participation, public life and freedom of movement, amounting to one of the most serious women’s rights crises in the world leading to their exclusion from working in national and international organisations, including in sectors essential to humanitarian assistance;

C. whereas the Code erodes women’s rights by legalising domestic violence, criminalising women seeking protection from abuse, institutionalising corporal punishment amounting to torture, recognising slavery, prescribing the death penalty without fair trial guarantees, granting husbands discretionary authority to punish wives for disobedience, subjecting women who leave Islam to indefinite imprisonment, and institutionalising discrimination based on gender, religion and social status; whereas it provides no right to legal representation or safeguards against forced confessions, and the removal of women judges, prosecutors and lawyers leaves women without remedies, in violation of Afghanistan’s obligations under the ICCPR, the UNCAT and the Slavery Convention;

whereas several of the Code’s provisions embed discriminatory and punitive rules that disproportionately harm religious minorities, thereby institutionalizing repression and further restrict the right to freedom of religion and belief;

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

whereas the new Code raises grave concerns regarding access to justice, due process guarantees, equal treatment before the law and the increased risk of arbitrary detention, corporal punishment and directed persecution towards women, thus normalizing violence and creating conditions that heighten women’s vulnerability to abuse while further restricting their freedoms;

E. whereas the Taliban regime has institutionalised gender persecution and gender apartheid; whereas the ICC issued arrest warrants against Akhundzada and Haqqani for the crime against humanity of prosecution on gender grounds;

whereas the erasure of women from public and institutional life has deprived Afghan women and girls of meaningful representation, legal protection and independent avenues for redress increasing their vulnerability to poverty, forced marriage, trafficking and exploitation;

1. Strongly condemns the Code; calls on the Taliban regime to immediately repeal it;

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2. Declares that the Taliban regime has institutionalised slavery, gender apartheid and child marriage; calls on the Council and the Commission to call this out in all diplomatic engagements and to support their recognition as crimes against humanity in the proposed Crimes Against Humanity Treaty;

Strongly condemns the adoption of the Taliban’s Criminal Procedure Code for Courts and expresses deep concern that it further institutionalises gender-based and religion-based discrimination and repression in Afghanistan;

3. Calls for an immediate end to public floggings, corporal punishment and executions, and for all restrictions on women and girls, LGBTQ+ persons, religious minorities and other vulnerable groups in public life to be lifted;

Calls on the Taliban authorities to end the violence against women and girls, to immediately repeal all laws, decrees and practices that discriminate against women and girls and to restore full, equal and meaningful access to education, employment, healthcare and justice, while upholding international humanitarian law;

4. Urges the Commission and the Member States to uphold non-recognition and non-normalisation of the Taliban, in line with the Council’s five benchmarks; regrets the decision to invite the Taliban to Brussels and calls for pressure to be put on the Taliban to restore human rights, in particular women’s and girls’ rights; reiterates its full support for the ICC arrest warrants and urges the Member States to enforce them;

Urges the authorities to respect the right to freedom of religion and belief and to protect minority groups, including Hazara Shi’a, Christians, Sikhs, and others;

5. Urges the EU and its Member States to support the investigative mechanism established by the UN Human Rights Council;

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches Afghan women and girls directly and is delivered in ways that preserve their dignity, safety and agency;

6. Calls on the Council to extend EU global human rights sanctions to Taliban leaders responsible for the persecution of women and girls, including travel bans and asset freezes;

Support international efforts to monitor and document human rights abuses and hold the Taliban accountable, particularly for violations against women, ethnic, and religious minorities.

7. Urges the EU and its Member States to increase humanitarian support for those combating famine in Afghanistan and for Afghan women human rights defenders, judges, lawyers, journalists, activists and women-led organisations, and ensure aid safely reaches Afghan women and girls;

8. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the, the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President ofCouncil, the Commission / High Representative ofVP/HR, the Union for Foreign Affairs and SecurityMember Policy,States, the EU Special Envoy for AfghanistanUN and the de-factode authoritiesfacto ofAfghan Afghanistan.authorities.