Source: UN: Taliban’s morality laws targeting women deepen Afghanistan’s isolation
The United Nations rights chief expressed his “abhorrence” Monday at the recent promulgation of “so-called morality laws” in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan that silence women or order them to cover their faces and bodies in public.
Volker Türk told a U.N. Human Rights Council session in Geneva that the new laws were implemented alongside bans on Afghan girls attending secondary school, prohibiting female students from accessing university education, and severely curtailing women’s access to public life and employment opportunities.
“I shudder to think what is next for the women and girls of Afghanistan. This repressive control over half the population in the country is unparalleled in today’s world,” the U.N. Human Rights Commissioner stated.
Türk denounced the morality laws as outrageous and amounting “to systematic gender persecution.” He warned that the intensifying curbs on women are “propelling Afghanistan further down a path of isolation, pain, and hardship.” It would also jeopardize the country’s future by “massively stifling its development,” he added.
Richard Bennett, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of Afghan human rights, also spoke and informed Monday’s session in Geneva that the Taliban had lately barred him from visiting the country to conduct assessments in line with his mandate.
He added that the morality law “marks a new phase in the ongoing repression of respect for human rights” since the Taliban regained control of the country three years ago.
联合国人权事务高级专员周一对塔利班控制的阿富汗最近颁布的“所谓道德法”表示“憎恶”，这些法律让妇女保持禁声或命令她们在公共场合遮盖脸部和身体。 沃尔克·图尔克在日内瓦举行的联合国人权理事会会议上表示，新法律的实施同时禁止阿富汗女孩上中学，禁止女学生接受大学教育，并严重限制妇女参与公共生活和就业机会。 联合国人权专员表示，“一想到阿富汗妇女和女孩接下来的处境，我就不寒而栗。这种对该国一半人口的镇压控制在当今世界是前所未有的。”图尔克谴责道德法令人愤慨，相当于“系统性的性别迫害”。他警告说，对女性日益严格的限制正在“推动阿富汗进一步走上孤立、痛苦和艰难的道路”。他补充说，这还将“严重扼杀国家的发展”，从而危及国家的未来。 联合国阿富汗人权状况特别报告员理查德·贝内特也在周一于日内瓦举行的会议上发言并通报说，塔利班最近禁止他访问该国并根据其授权使命进行评估。 他补充说，自塔利班三年前重新控制该国以来，道德法“标志着对尊重人权的持续镇压进入了一个新阶段”。
