World Must Remain United Against Taliban’s Policies, US Representative Tells UN

Michèle Taylor, US Permanent Representative to the UN Human Rights Council, on Monday said that the situation of women in Afghanistan is getting worse every passing day.

She asked the countries of the world to stick to their current agreement regarding the policies of the Taliban.

She added that normalisation of relations with the group should depend on the change in their behaviour in Afghanistan.

Addressing a UN Human Rights Council session, Taylor, like representatives from various countries, expressed support for the statement of Richard Bennett, UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan.

At the 54th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, Bennett said that Taliban's policies against women are "cruel and misogynistic". He added that Taliban "systematically" violates and restricts the rights of women and girls.

In her statement, Taylor said that the Taliban are trying to completely remove women from the public sphere. She reiterated once again that the US and the international community will not recognise Taliban regime until it changes its extremist policies.

She also asked the representatives of other governments to maintain their unity against the Taliban and ask the group to change its policies against women and other layers of the Afghan society.

Without naming the Taliban, Taylor said that the existing reports about the killing and torture of the former Afghan government employees are valid and expressed concern about it.

The Taliban has denied the human rights organisations’ reports regarding the killing and torture of former security forces members in Afghanistan.