Women, Girls Deprived Of Human Rights In Taliban Held Afghanistan, Says UN Report

Hundreds of people have been killed in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover while as security too has improved since then, the United Nations said in a report Wednesday.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan also highlighted the poor situation of women and girls since the Taliban takeover and how they have been stripped of many of their human rights under Afghanistan¡¯s current rulers.

Human Rights Watch

¡°It is beyond time for all Afghans to be able to live in peace and rebuild their lives after 20 years of armed conflict. Our monitoring reveals that despite the improved security situation since 15 August last year, the people of Afghanistan, in particular women and girls, are deprived of the full enjoyment of their human rights,¡± said Markus Potzel, deputy special representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan.

700 people killed since August 2021

The report said as many as 700 people have been killed and 1,400 wounded since mid-August 2021, when the Taliban overran the Afghan capital of Kabul as the United States and NATO were in the final weeks of their withdrawal from the country, Associated Press reported.

Human Rights Watch

The majority of those casualties were linked to attacks by the Islamic State group's affiliate in the country, a bitter rival of the Taliban which has targeted ethnic and religious minority communities in places where they go to school, worship and go about their daily lives.

Taliban deny allegations

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid called the U.N. report ¡°baseless and propaganda¡± and its findings ¡°not true.¡±

UNICEF

They issued edicts requiring women to cover their faces except for their eyes in public, including women presenters on TV, and banned girls from attending school past the sixth grade.

Girls loosing 12 years of education

The decision not to allow girls to return to secondary school means that a generation of girls will not complete their full 12 years of basic education, the U.N. said.

Human Rights Watch

¡°The education and participation of women and girls in public life is fundamental to any modern society. The relegation of women and girls to the home denies Afghanistan the benefit of the significant contributions they have to offer. Education for all is not only a basic human right, it is the key to progress and development of a nation,¡± said Potzel, the U.N. envoy.

During the previous Taliban rule in Afghanistan, they subjected women to overwhelming restrictions, banning them from education and participation in public life and requiring them to wear the all-encompassing burqa.

For more on news and current affairs from around the world please visit Indiatimes News.