What changed

B90175/2024

Motion for a European Parliament resolution on the repressive environment in Afghanistan, including public executions and violence against women

Motion for a European Parliament resolution on The repressive environment in Afghanistan, including public executions and violence against women

(2024/2617(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its ruleprevious 144;resolutions on Afghanistan,

Whereas since their takeover on 15 August 2021, the Taliban have severely restricted the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the Afghan people, particularly women and girls who have been virtually erased from public life;

– having regard to Rules 144(5) and 132(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

Whereas the Taliban have resumed judicial executions, including publicly;

A. whereas since taking over the country the Taliban have dismantled the judicial system, ordered judges to fully implement Sharia and resumed public executions and cruel punishments such as flogging and stoning; whereas five public executions have since taken place with thousands in attendance;

Whereas dozens of activists and protestors have been arbitrarily arrested and detained in relation to their defence of human rights;

B. whereas the Taliban have virtually erased women and girls from public life; whereas restrictions on their rights include barring their access to work, travel and healthcare without a male relative, banning education beyond sixth grade, denying access to public places and sports, violently enforcing a strict dress code and dismantling the support system for victims of violence;

WhereasC. whereas minorities, such as the Hazaras,Hazaras and Tajiks, face growing repression and marginalization;discrimination;

Whereas over half of the Afghan population is in need of humanitarian need, while the Afghanistan Humanitarian Response Plan continues to be grossly underfunded; whereas 6,3 million Afghans remain displaced;

1. Expresses its grave concern about the humanitarian and human rights crises in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover; recalls Afghanistan’s international human rights obligations; reiterates its unwavering commitment to the Afghan people and to upholding their rights and freedoms secured over the past 20 years;

Reiterates its grave concern about the humanitarian and human rights crises that continue to unfold in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover;

2. Condemns the Taliban’s radical interpretation and enforcement of Sharia and the attempted erasure of women and girls from public life, which amounts to gender persecution and gender apartheid; calls for the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and girls in public life to be immediately restored, particularly their access to education and work; commends the courage of Afghanistan’s women and stands in solidarity with them;

Expresses its continued outrage at the devastating policy of gender apartheid faced by Afghan women and girls; reiterates its demand that the Taliban immediately allow girls of all ages to attend school and receive education on an equal basis with boys, as well as stop subjecting women and their families to grave violations for merely exercising their rights;

3. Urges the de facto Afghan authorities to abolish capital punishment and immediately halt public executions, other cruel or inhuman punishments and its discrimination against and barbaric persecution of women and girls, and LGBTIQ+, ethnic and religious minorities, in particular;

Denounces the relentless targeting of human rights defenders, journalists and other civil society actors, LGBTIQ+ people, dissidents, judges, as well as the brutal repression of peaceful protest and expressions of dissent across the country;

4. Condemns the arbitrary detention of human rights defenders, including Manizha Seddiqi, Ahmad Fahim Azimi, Sediqullah Afghan, Fardin Fedayee and Ezatullah Zwab; calls for their immediate and unconditional release;

Condemns, once again, the arbitrary detention of human rights defenders, protestors and artists arbitrarily arrested, including Manizha Seddiqi, Ahmad Fahim Azimi, Seddiqullah Afghan, Fardin Fedayee and Ezatullah Zwab and calls for their immediate and unconditional release;

5. Insists on maintaining strictly conditional engagement with the Taliban based on the five benchmarks set by the Council and the UN Special Rapporteur’s recommendations;

Denounces the resumption of judicial executions, including publicly, under the Taliban; calls for the immediate halt on all executions and the abolition of the death penalty and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments;

6. Supports Afghan civil society’s calls to hold the de facto authorities accountable for their crimes, particularly through the International Criminal Court investigation, by establishing a UN Independent Investigative Mechanism and expanding EU restrictive measures;

7. Urges the EU and Member States to stepincrease uphumanitarian itsaid supportand funding to support basic needs and livelihoods and Afghan civil societysociety; groups,urges andMember States to fundissue specifichumanitarian assistancevisas andto protectionpersecuted programmeswomen forand human rights defenders;defenders and to finish evacuating local Afghan staff left behind;

Urges the EU to step up its support to Afghan groups working to defend the rights of women and girls, including alternative education options;

8. Calls on the international community and, in particular, regional actors to maintain pressure on the de facto Afghan authorities; highlights that the forced return of Afghans puts them at risk;

Calls on the VP/HR to help launch a global initiative for ensuring accountability in Afghanistan, including by expanding EU restrictive measures against all entities and individuals responsible for these violations, and by establishing an independent investigative mechanism under the UN Human Rights Council;

9. 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 Member States, the UN and the de facto Afghan authorities.

Calls on the EU and the Member States to help address the acute humanitarian needs of the Afghan people, within and outside the country;

Urges Member States to ensure the long overdue evacuation of local Afghan staff still left behind;

Deeply regrets the systematic pushbacks that Afghans face at the EU external borders;

Insists on maintaining a strict conditional engagement with the Taliban in accordance to the five benchmarks set by the Council for engagement with the de facto authorities;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the relevant parties.