Australia and three other countries have formally accused the Taliban of repressing the rights of Afghan women and girls, in a step towards legal action in the World Court.
Under international law, countries need to enter formal talks before they can escalate a case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The ICJ, also known as the World Court, oversees disputes between countries and global organisations.
The action, which includes Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands, is believed to be one of the first gender discrimination cases considered by the ICJ.
Taliban
The Taliban is an extremist Islamist group that held power in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. In 2021, it seized power again after the U.S. (and allies including Australia) withdrew troops from Afghanistan.
The Taliban has since imposed several restrictions on women, including banning them from high schools, universities, and most forms of employment.
Senior UN officials have described Afghanistan under Taliban rule as “the most repressive country in the world for women’s rights”.
Recent laws
Last month, the Taliban Government introduced new laws further restricting women’s movements and rights.
Women’s faces and bodies now need to be fully covered in public. They are also prohibited from using their voices outside their homes.
The regime’s “vice and virtue” laws also forbid men and women who aren’t related from looking at each other.
A spokesperson for the Taliban said the laws are “firmly rooted in Islamic teachings.”
Legal move
Australia, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands have announced they’re taking coordinated international legal action against the Taliban, following meetings at the UN General Assembly.
The four countries are formally accusing the regime of breaching the UN treaty on women’s rights.
The treaty sets out measures to ensure equality between men and women in political, private, and public life.
Afghanistan signed up in 2003, when the country wasn’t under Taliban control.
Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong described the measure as “unprecedented”.
She said the regime “has demonstrated contempt for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls… through a campaign of sustained and systematic oppression.”
Her Canadian counterpart Mélanie Joly echoed Wong’s comments, saying: “We will not rest until justice prevails and [Afghan women] see freedom.”
While the countries don’t recognise the Taliban Government, they argue it must “uphold and fulfil the international legal obligations of Afghanistan”.
What now?
Wong said the four countries have taken the first step in legal action, which involves attempting to enter negotiations with the Taliban.
If negotiations don’t progress, the UN treaty says the parties can try going through arbitration. That’s where both sides present their cases to an independent assessor (not a judge).
Should that fail, then Australia, Germany, Canada, and the Netherlands will be able to take the case against the Taliban to the ICJ (World Court).
Meryl Streep
Addressing the UN General Assembly in New York earlier this week, actor Meryl Streep raised the plight of Afghan women under the Taliban.
“A female cat has more freedom than a woman”
Meryl Streep, citing the Taliban’s repression of women and girls
“A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today, because the public parks have been closed to women and girls by the Taliban.”
