What changed

B90177/2024

B90185/2024

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

The European Parliament,

– having regard to itsRule previous144 resolutionsof onits Afghanistan,rules of procedure,

having regard to the latest report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan,

whereas since 2021, the Taliban has begun a devastating destruction of civic life in Afghanistan including widespread repression of human rights and fundamental freedoms, restrictions on access to justice, and complete neglect to respect international human rights obligations;

– having regard to Rule 144 of its Rules of Procedure,

whereas the virtual elimination of rights for women and girls in the country is the most severe gender-based repression in modern times, and amounts to gender apartheid; whereas there is widespread concern that the Taliban is perpetrating the crime against humanity of gender persecution;

Whereas public executions occurred in February 2024, involving the shootings of three men by relatives of individuals purportedly killed by the convicts, conducted in the presence of de-facto court officials and the public;

whereas women and girls face severe restrictions on access to education, employment and the public sphere such as parks; whereas women protesting the lack of fundamental human rights have faced enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrest and torture; whereas women are facing severe punishment for violations of a national dress code;

Whereas, on 25 February 2024, a 12-year-old boy and a man were publicly flogged for the offense of immorality, while a woman and a man convicted for adultery were publicly flogged 35 times; whereas in the following days at least 10 individuals were publicly flogged for similar offences;

whereas the Taliban has resumed judicial executions, flogging and stoning, including holding such punishments in public; whereas five public executions have taken place since 2021, with thousands of people in attendance;

Whereas since taking over the country in August 2021, the Taliban have de-facto abolished previously enforced laws, including those protecting women, and have ordered judges to fully implement Sharia law, leading to systemic human rights violations;

whereas the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation in Afghanistan has raised alarm at the lack of due process and lack of qualified, independent adjudicators overseeing execution cases;

Whereas the Taliban's restrictions on women, including barring them from access to work, travel and healthcare without a male relative, shows clear will to expel them from public spaces, and limiting education beyond sixth grade leave over 1 million girls without access to education;

Deplores the rapid and widespread dismantling of human rights and the rule of law in Afghanistan;

Whereas UNAMA has recently documented campaigns by the de-facto police to enforce the hijab decree in Kabul and Daykundi provinces, particularly in areas dominated by Hazara and Tajik minorities;

Condemns in the strongest possible terms the attempted erasure of women and girls from public life, and the state-sanctioned violence and oppression that women face on a daily basis at the hands of the Taliban; stands in solidarity with all Afghan women; condemns governments which are enabling the Taliban regime by normalising relations;

Expresses its concerns about the human rights crisis in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover; reiterates its unwavering commitment towards the Afghan people and upholding the rights and freedoms they have enjoyed over the past 20 years;

Recalls the international human rights obligations to which Afghanistan remains bound; reminds the de-facto authorities of the regime’s commitment to upholding rights, including restoring access to education for women and girls, and urges them to immediately fulfil these commitments;

Condemns the Taliban’s inhuman enforcement of Sharia Law and repressions against women and girls amounting to gender persecution and gender apartheid; reiterates that the Afghan de-facto authorities must immediately halt all executions, other cruel or inhuman punishments, barbarous persecution of LGBTQ, and discriminatory policies towards women, and ethnic and religious minorities;

Insists that the de-facto authorities end the arbitrary arrest and human rights violations of women; calls for the immediate and unconditional release of women human rights defenders, and for detention conditions and due process to meet international standards;

Calls on the Afghan de-facto authorities to respect the fundamental freedoms and human rights of the Afghan citizens and to restore the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and girls in public life, particularly access to education and work;

Reiterates the EU’s strong opposition to the death penalty, in all cases and without exception; urges the de-facto authorities to end the use of capital punishment, and to immediately cease any public executions, which amounts to cruel and unusual punishment;

Insists on maintaining strict, conditional engagement with the Taliban based on the five benchmarks set by the Council and in accordance with the UN Special Rapporteur’s recommendations, by holding the perpetrators of human rights violations accountable, including through restrictive measures;

Urges the EEAS and Member States to strengthen efforts for a UN-led process for coordinated and structured engagement by the international community on the future of Afghanistan; underlines that the full participation of Afghan women and civil society is vital in this process;

Supports the calls of Afghan civil society to hold the de facto authorities accountable for their crimes, particularly via the ICC investigation and establishing an UN Independent Investigative Mechanism;

Underlines that collecting and preserving evidence of human rights abuses, in particular those against women and girls, should be a vital part of the UNAMA to ensure accountability and the restoration of due process;

Urges an increase in humanitarian aid to Afghans, including by issuing humanitarian visas for persecuted women and girls, as well as funding for basic needs and livelihood support;

Instruct 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 regional actors to keep pressure on de facto Afghan authorities and abstain from forced returns of Afghans;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the HR/VP, Member States and the UN.