Human Rights Watch has said that five years after the Taliban seized power, Afghanistan has become one of the world’s most serious human rights crises, particularly for women and girls.
The organization reported on Saturday, August 15, that the Taliban’s restrictive policies over the past five years have severely curtailed the fundamental rights of citizens, with women and girls suffering the greatest impact from these policies.
Human Rights Watch said that after seizing power in Afghanistan, the Taliban barred women and girls from secondary and higher education and imposed widespread restrictions on women’s employment, freedom of expression, and freedom of movement.
According to the organization, these restrictions have also made it difficult for aid organizations to reach women in need.
The organization added that journalists, civil society activists, and people considered critics of the Taliban have faced threats, arbitrary detention and imprisonment, and torture.
Human Rights Watch also said that several hundred members of the former government’s security forces have been subjected to enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killings.
The organization described Afghanistan’s humanitarian situation as critical, saying that following further reductions in foreign aid, half of the country’s population needs food and health assistance.
