End Taliban’s Oppression in Afghanistan and Hold All Perpetrators Accountable

Over the past five years, Afghanistan under Taliban rule has suffered from profound multidimensional human rights, humanitarian, economic and security crises. The Taliban have systematically dismantled fundamental freedoms and civic space; institutionalized the oppression of women and girls including their exclusion from education, employment and public life; and subjected journalists, human rights defenders, protesters and perceived opponents to threats, arbitrary detention, torture and family intimidation. Moreover, the Taliban have continued the persecution of marginalized ethnic and religious communities such as the Hazaras, Ismailis, Sufis, Uzbeks, Turkmen as well as Tajiks through systematic discrimination, forced displacement and threats to their political, cultural and religious rights. The LGBTIQ+ community also faces serious threats and violations of fundamental rights and freedoms.

The Taliban have implemented their oppressive policies and practices with complete impunity. Since 2021, the group has introduced more than a hundred decrees, edicts and directives severely curtailing fundamental rights, and limiting access to justice, protection and accountability avenues. Its more recent measures include the Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue (PVPV) Law, the Criminal Procedure Code for Courts and its Decree No. 18, which further entrench discriminatory restrictions on women and girls, non-Sunni Muslims, and other religious groups. These regulations contain provisions relating to practices such as slavery, caste-like differentiation of society, as well as child marriage.

The Taliban’s use of arbitrary arrests, torture, public flogging, enforced disappearances, forced eviction, and extrajudicial killings present a horrific picture of their cruel, inhumane, and degrading conducts and reprisals. Between August 2021 and June 2023, despite the Taliban’s proclaimed general amnesty, the group was responsible for^[1] 218 extrajudicial killings, 14 enforced disappearances, over 144 instances of torture and ill treatment, and 424 arbitrary arrests and detentions.

The institutionalized system of oppression against women and girls’ based on gender identities constitutes gender apartheid^[2] and should be codified as such, under international law. The persecution of ethnic and religious minorities, especially the Hazaras, amounts to crimes against humanity^[3] as reported by the United Nations Special Rapporteur. Furthermore, the documented pattern of systematic persecution and attacks against the Hazaras bear the hallmarks of the crime of genocide^[4].

Since their return to power, the Taliban’s fundamentalist religious ideologies, ethno-nationalist approach and violent practices have threatened to turn Afghanistan into a hotbed of religious radicalization, jihadist ambitions and violent extremism, leading to serious national and transnational human and security threats. As of December 2025, as the United Nations Security Council reported^[5], more than 20 international and regional terrorist organizations, including IS-KP and al-Qaeda, remain active in the country. Between January and March 2026, during Taliban-Pakistan cross-border strikes, 372 civilians were killed and 397 injured in Afghanistan.

The Taliban have shown utter disregard for people’s pleas, community-based advocacy and efforts to peacefully protest their oppression – including Afghanistan’s religious scholars’ repeated calls to lift restrictions on female education. When addressing genuine concerns to Taliban administrators, community members and representatives^[6] including victims and survivors report being mistreated and often remain fearful of further reprisals from the regime.

Even though the Taliban lack national and international legitimacy, many States, public institutions, and private entities have continued to unconditionally engage with them to the unmitigated chagrin of the people of Afghanistan. In 2025, Russia^[7] recognized the Taliban as a legitimate government, contributing to further normalization of the Taliban’s oppressive rule. In 2026, the European Union (EU)^[8] hosted a Taliban delegation in Brussels for talks over forced return of Afghanistan’s migrants, breaching the refugee law^[9] and the EU’s own benchmarks^[10] for engagement. The growing trend of normalizing ties with the Taliban – whether for humanitarian needs or migration control – has only bolstered the regime’s brutality.

Multinational accountability proceedings initiated by Australia, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands under the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW^[11]), the International Criminal Court (ICC^[12])’s arrest warrants for senior Taliban leaders for alleged crimes against humanity, and the United Nations Human Rights Council^[13]’s establishment of an independent investigative mechanism collectively demonstrate a clear message that the time for investigations and accountability has arrived and serious violations committed by the Taliban can no longer be treated as an internal matter or left to local informal mechanisms.