On the repressive environment in Afghanistan, including public executions and violence against women

B90185/2024

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 Rule 144 of its rules of procedure,

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;

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 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 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 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;

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

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;

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;

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;

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;

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;

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;

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