Int’l Groups: UN Security Council Should Recognise Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan

Athlete Zakia Khudadadi, singer and composer Elaha Soroor, and media and education entrepreneur Hamida Aman from Afghanistan are among this year's 100 most inspiring and influential figures.

The BBC's roster includes five categories of influential figures in the sectors of climate pioneers, culture and education, entertainment and sports, politics and science, health and technology.

In this list, Afghan athlete Zakia Khudadadi has been introduced as one of the 100 most influential figures in the sports and entertainment sector. She made history at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games as the first member of the Paralympic refugee team to win a medal.

According to the BBC, the athlete had been secretly training in taekwondo clubs in her hometown of Herat since the age of 11 and left Afghanistan after the Taliban's return.

Khudadadi told the BBC, "My path to an Olympic medal speaks about the resilience of Afghan women, refugee women and every other woman. By not giving up, we are showing that there is nothing a woman cannot do."

In the entertainment and sports category, singer Elaha Soroor has also been named one of the 100 most influential figures of 2024.

The BBC wrote, "At a time when the voices of women in Afghanistan are being erased from public life, singer Elaha Soroor wrote the anthem Naan, Kar, Azadi! (Bread, Work, Freedom!) to counter this suppression and send a message of encouragement."

In the Culture and Education category, Hamida Aman, a media and education entrepreneur from Afghanistan, has been named one of the BBC's 100 most influential and inspiring figures. She has launched the Begum online academy to create a free educational space for out-of-school girls.

According to the BBC, the platform provided more than 8,500 videos in Dari and Pashto last year, covering curricula for grades 7 to 12.

Every year, the BBC publishes a list of 100 most influential artists, activists, leaders and well-known figures around the world.

Peters stated this in a letter to New Zealand MP Camilla Belich. Belich said on Tuesday that New Zealand supports international efforts to hold the Taliban government accountable for its "inhumane treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan".

Belich said that she would continue to defend the rights of Afghan women.

In a note on her Facebook account, Belich wrote that the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan and Iran is "truly a human rights crisis”.

The New Zealand MP said that Afghan and Iranian activists in New Zealand have appealed for New Zealand's support for efforts to hold the Taliban accountable. As a result of these efforts, a multi-party meeting was held in the New Zealand parliament and international measures to hold the Taliban accountable were supported.

Along with her note, Belich also published a letter from New Zealand's foreign minister, Winston Peters.

In the letter, Peters wrote that the New Zealand government supports a German-led plan to force the Taliban to respect human rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Peters added that he had also discussed the issue with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

He described the move as "important" and stressed that New Zealand would monitor progress in this area.

Recently, the foreign ministers of Germany, Australia, Canada and the Netherlands issued a strongly worded statement condemning the gross and systematic violations of human rights in Afghanistan, particularly gender discrimination against women.

They stressed that Afghanistan is responsible under international law for violating its numerous obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

The countries called for negotiations and dialogue with the Taliban in accordance with the provisions of the convention and warned that "if a result is not reached within a reasonable timeframe, they will refer to the International Court of Justice”.

Following the release of the statement, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock delivered a harsh statement on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, along with the foreign ministers of the Netherlands, Australia, and Canada, against the violation of women's rights in Afghanistan. She vowed to bring the Taliban to the International Court of Justice for violating the rights of Afghan women.

Following this action, more than 20 other countries supported the initiative, including Australia, Germany, Canada and the Netherlands.

Last week, Chile, Costa Rica, Spain, France, Luxembourg and Mexico referred the case of Afghanistan, especially the violation of women's rights in the country, to the International Criminal Court. The International Criminal Court also confirmed that it had received the case.

The court's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, announced on Monday, December 2, at the 23rd session of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Assembly of Member States in The Hague, the Netherlands, that he would soon request arrest warrants for Taliban officials. Khan said that investigations into human rights violations, particularly women's rights, in Afghanistan were ongoing.

Local officials claimed that cold weather and "freezing of the wires" in the Rabat Sangi district have caused power outages.

The Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency reported on Tuesday (December 3) that a team from the Taliban's DABS in Herat has been dispatched to the area with two vehicles to fix the problem and restore the power supply.

According to information provided by Taliban officials, Turkmenistan's imported electricity to Herat was cut off at around 1:50pm on Monday (December 2).

Herat, located in western Afghanistan, imports electricity from Iran and Turkmenistan.

Meanwhile, a number of residents of different provinces complained about the shortage of electricity and power cuts during the winter season, saying that this situation has caused many problems for them during the day.

Afghanistan is not self-sufficient in the field of electricity and imports more than 70 percent of its electricity needs from Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Iran.

Despite the closure of universities and schools for girls, they continued to study in health institutes and were trained in fields such as midwifery, pharmacy, laboratory, X-ray, physiotherapy, nursing, and prosthodontics.

The head of a private institution in Kabul told Afghanistan International that the Taliban's Minister of Public Health summoned the officials of the institutes and informed them of Mullah Hibatullah's order.

He added that the Taliban's Minister of Public Health emphasised that women and girls are not allowed to enter health institutes as of Monday (December 2).

According to the source, "The Taliban's Minister of Public Health had summoned them to the ministry without saying what the meeting was about. He did not even allow questions about Mullah Hibatullah's new order."

Another source told Afghanistan International that according to Mullah Hibatullah's new decree, all governmental and non-governmental health institutions have been closed to girls.

"Most of our students were women, but today they all stayed at home," said the head of a health institute in Kabul.

After the ban on girls' education, it has become difficult or even impossible for these institutes to continue operating, the source added, as the majority of their students were women.

Health institutes were the last place where women and girls could continue their education, but now they have been denied the opportunity, the source said.

Health institutes on Monday have informed their students not to attend classes starting Tuesday (December 3).

Now, with the closure of health educational institutions, the crisis of shortage of gynaecologists and nurses in Afghanistan will intensify.

After returning to power, the Taliban closed schools above the sixth grade to girls and then banned them from attending universities. These restrictions were gradually expanded to include a ban on women working in governmental and non-governmental organisations. In addition, women were also prohibited from going to parks, baths, hairdressers, and traveling without a male relative.

The Taliban's restrictions on women have sparked widespread reactions at the international level. The UN Human Rights Office and some countries have described these actions as a clear violation of human rights, an example of crimes against humanity, and an example of gender apartheid.

A number of countries have referred cases of violations of women's rights to the Hague Court, but the Taliban has increased restrictions and prohibitions for women in response.

He said that investigations into human rights violations, particularly women's rights, in Afghanistan were ongoing.

The 23rd session of the Assembly of States Parties began today in The Hague, Netherlands. The session is scheduled for December 2-7, 2024.

"I can confirm that with the excellent efforts of the team who have been working steadily on this issue, we will soon announce requests for an arrest warrant in the Afghanistan Situation File," Karim Khan said in a statement at the meeting on Monday.

He did not elaborate on the details of the sentence.

Last week, Chile, Costa Rica, Spain, France, Luxembourg and Mexico referred the case of Afghanistan, especially the violation of women's rights in this country, to the International Criminal Court. The International Criminal Court also confirmed that it had received the case.

The International Criminal Court recently issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

The court is also expected to issue arrest warrants for some Taliban leaders involved in "systematic violence" against women and "the prevailing gender apartheid in Afghanistan".

What does the court order mean?

Fawad Pouya, an international law researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, told Afghanistan International that with the referral of Afghanistan's case by six members of the International Criminal Court, the court's investigation into Afghanistan has resumed in earnest.

According to him, the new investigation is a continuation of the court's previous investigation, which first began in March 2020. He added that the new investigation supports and expands on the previous case.

The international law researcher also clarified, "The arrest warrant is not only directed at the Taliban, but former members of the government of the Republic of Afghanistan may also be prosecuted."

The referral of cases by various countries puts additional pressure on the ICC to make a decision and announce it as soon as possible, he said.

Karim Khan stressed that his office has conducted an independent, impartial and robust investigation into the situation in Afghanistan. The investigation also includes allegations of systematic discrimination and harassment against women and girls.

The investigation demonstrates the ICC's commitment to pursuing and holding accountable crimes against humanity and gender abuse, the statement said. The ICC has also welcomed the determination of member states to address these crimes and support ongoing investigations.

The Taliban has not previously responded to the referral of the group's human rights violation case to the Hague court.