The Taliban's repression of women and their rights should be investigated as possible crimes against human rights, two international rights bodies demanded Friday.
A joint report issued by Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists – two nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) based in London and Geneva respectively – details Taliban's restrictions on the rights of Afghanistan's women and girls.
Since taking power in August 2021, the Taliban have drastically restricted rights and the rule has become increasingly authoritarian.
Women's access to education and work has been limited, along with their ability to travel and access medical care.
"These are international crimes. They are organized, widespread, systematic," Amnesty International secretary general Agnes Callamard said.
The organizations have called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to include "the crime against humanity of gender persecution" in their ongoing investigation into the situation in Afghanistan.
They also called on the international community to discuss "gender persecution and other possible crimes under international law by the Taliban" in the upcoming session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.
Callamard said the Taliban's actions needed a more robust international response than what had been seen to date.
"There is only one outcome acceptable: this system of gender oppression and persecution must be dismantled," she said.
The Taliban authorities were yet to comment on the report. Previously, the Taliban called such reports biased and propaganda against them.
In April, the U.N. Security Council unanimously passed a resolution calling on the Taliban to ensure "full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women and girls" in Afghanistan.
