Women’s rights in Afghanistan not negotiable: rights groups

Ahead of the third Doha meeting on Afghanistan, a group of international organizations advocating for human rights have written to the United Nations that the rights of women and girls in the country are “not negotiable.”

Eleven organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are the signatories of the letter released by the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security.

In the letter, they stated that the space for women and girls to make their own decisions and live their lives gets smaller every day, adding that the international community’s approach to Afghanistan has failed to deter the IEA from imposing restrictions on women.

The organizations have asked the United Nations not to concede to any of the IEA’s stated conditions for participation in the Doha meeting, that would undermine addressing the protection of women’s human rights.

They said that all restrictions “violating the rights of Afghan women and girls, including, but not limited to, education, work, movement, assembly, expression and dress must be immediately and unconditionally removed.”

“Women’s full, equal, meaningful and safe participation in all aspects of public life and decision-making, including in any political process, must be guaranteed,” they added.

“Afghan women have been clear that the international community must refrain from granting the Taliban (IEA) a seat at the UN or inviting them to UN-convened meetings, reopening diplomatic missions in the country or handing over diplomatic missions outside of Afghanistan to them, or lifting sanctions – all of which risk legitimizing a regime that continues to violate women’s human rights, Afghanistan’s international legal obligations, and Security Council resolutions,” according to the letter.

The organizations said that while members of the international community are “moving perilously close to accepting the legitimacy of Taliban rule, Afghanistan’s women, who are bravely fighting back and paying a devastating price as a result, are not.”

This comes as the Islamic Emirate has emphasized that it is committed to ensuring the rights of women and girls in accordance with Sharia.

The third Doha meeting on Afghanistan will be held on June 30.