Tamanna Zaryab Paryani, a human rights activist, has called on the international community to define “gender apartheid” as a crime against humanity during a United Nations Security Council meeting on women, peace and security.
Paryani made the remarks on Tuesday, October 27, in an address to the Security Council published by the United Nations.
She said women in Afghanistan have been excluded from public life and their rights are continuously violated, while no mechanism exists to hold those responsible for these violations accountable.
Paryani stressed that gender justice and women’s rights must be integrated into all the Council’s activities and that targeting women and marginalized groups should be considered a threat to international peace and security.
She added that the international community must not allow these human rights violations to become normalized. She also expressed concern over the decision by some countries to grant diplomatic recognition to the Taliban.
“In any engagement with the Taliban, women’s rights must be the top priority,” Paryani said.
The human rights activist also called on the international community to define “gender apartheid” as a crime against humanity, support efforts by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to arrest Taliban leaders over gender-based persecution, and demand women’s participation in all decision-making processes concerning their future.
This comes as the Taliban have barred women in Afghanistan from education, employment, and participation in all areas of social, political, and cultural life over the past five years.
