GENEVA (13 August 2026) — As Taliban rule in
Afghanistan continues, UN experts* warned that normalisation
of the de facto authorities continues, despite increasing
restrictions imposed on the population, including women and
girls, over the past year. They urged States to accelerate
steps towards accountability.
“Five years may be a
short period in the life of a country, but it is a long one
in a child’s life,” the experts said. “A generation of
girls has now been denied secondary education. A girl who
was in grade six when the ban began is reaching adulthood
without another day in school.”
An Afghan girl cited
by the experts said, “It has been five years since I was
deprived of my education. It is deeply depressing to feel
that you cannot move forward but are stuck where you were
five years ago.”
Over the past year, the Taliban
have further entrenched their institutionalised gender-based
repression. The experts reiterated that the Taliban’s
intentional and targeted gender-based deprivation of
fundamental rights amounts to the crime against humanity of
persecution on gender grounds. As this repression forms part
of an institutionalised system of gender-based
discrimination, oppression and domination, the experts said
it can also be characterised as gender apartheid. They urged
States to actively support the codification of gender
apartheid as a distinct crime against humanity.
The
Taliban have continued to impose repressive measures on the
population, including the decree on criminal rules of courts
that allows violence against women unless it “breaks
bones” or “leaves obvious bruises,” and the decree on
separation of spouses that implicitly allows child marriage
and makes it very difficult for women and girls to escape
abusive and forced marriages. These decrees also
discriminate against religious minorities.
Advertisement – scroll to continue reading
Enforcement
measures, some involving cruel and inhuman punishment, have
also intensified, the experts said. In 2025 alone, more
people were publicly flogged than in all the previous years
of Taliban rule combined.
“Women have been turned
away from hospitals on account of their attire or for
lacking a male guardian, denying them their right to access
health care. In June 2026, at least 30 women and girls were
jailed in Herat for allegedly violating the Taliban’s
dress code. When residents protested, security forces opened
fire, killing at least two people, including a
boy.”
They called for strengthened support for the
International Criminal Court, warning that “the newly
mandated Independent Investigative Mechanism for Afghanistan
must not remain only an achievement on paper; it must also
be properly and swiftly resourced.”
The experts also
decried the deepening humanitarian crisis, which remains one
of the world’s most severe and neglected, driven by the
loss of humanitarian funding, a faltering economy, drought
and mass returns from neighbouring countries.
More
than 17 million Afghans — over a third of the population
— faced acute food insecurity during the past winter, with
nearly 4 million children acutely malnourished. The experts
urged States to restore humanitarian funding and ensure that
women — disproportionately harmed and largely barred from
public life — can both deliver and receive
assistance.
“Afghanistan is not a safe country: mass
returns and forced deportations in violation of the
obligation of non-refoulement must stop, particularly for
those who face heightened protection risks, including
religious or ethnic minorities and LGBT persons,” the
experts said.
Cross-border hostilities with Pakistan
have claimed the lives of about 500 civilians since October
2025, including 269 patients killed in airstrikes on a drug
rehabilitation centre in Kabul in March 2026. The experts
called on Pakistan and the Taliban to exercise restraint,
protect civilians and investigate potential war crimes and
gross human rights violations.
“There should be no
moves to normalise the Taliban de facto authorities,
including by accepting diplomats or holding meetings in
capitals, without demonstrated, measurable progress against
human rights benchmarks, particularly for women and girls,”
the experts said. “For five years, Afghans’ human rights
have been systematically violated, yet many continue to
strive bravely and against the odds to restore them. The
international community must not let them down
again.”
The full statement is available here –
https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2026/08/afghanistan-after-five-years-taliban-rule-un-experts-warn-against.
*The
experts:
- Richard Bennett, Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in
Afghanistan - Claudia Flores (Chair), Ivana
Krstić (Vice-Chair), Dorothy Estrada-Tanck, Haina Lu, and
Laura Nyirinkindi, Working
Group on discrimination against women and
girls - Cecilia M. Bailliet, Independent
Expert on human rights and international
solidarity - Zvezdan Pirtošek, the Independent
Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older
persons - George Katrougalos, Independent
expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable
international order - Alexandra Xanthaki,
Special
Rapporteur in the field of cultural
rights - Katarina Schwarz, Special
Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking
in persons - Morris Tidball-Binz, the
Special
Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary
executions - Nazila Ghanea, Special
Rapporteur on freedom of religion or
belief - Paula Gaviria, Special
Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced
persons - Gehad Madi, Special
Rapporteur on the human rights of
migrants - Margaret Satterthwaite, Special
Rapporteur on the independence of judges and
lawyers - Ben Saul, Special
Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights
and fundamental freedoms while countering
terrorism - Leopoldo Maldonado Gutierrez,
Special
Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to
freedom of opinion and expression - Bernard
Duhaime, Special
Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation
and guarantees of non-recurrence - Surya
Deva, Special
Rapporteur on the right to
development - Farida Shaheed, the Special
Rapporteur on the right to
education - Sofía Monsalve Suárez, Special
Rapporteur on the right to food - Ai
Kihara-Hunt, Special
Rapporteur on the sale, sexual exploitation and sexual abuse
of children - Andrea Bolaños Vargas,
Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights
defenders - Mai Sato, Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic
Republic of Iran - Pau Pérez-Sales, Special
Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment - Gabriella Citroni
(Chair-Rapporteur), Grażyna Baranowska (Vice-Chair), Aua
Baldé, Ana Lorena Delgadillo Pérez,Mohammed Al-Obaidi,
Working
Group on Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearances
Special
Rapporteurs/Independent Experts/Working Groups are
independent human rights experts appointed by the United
Nations Human Rights Council. Together, these experts are
referred to as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights
Council
(https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures-human-rights-council).
Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they
are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work.
While the UN Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for
Special Procedures, the experts serve in their individual
capacity and are independent fromany government or
organization, including OHCHR and the UN. Any views or
opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not
necessarily represent those of the UN or
OHCHR.
Country-specific observations and
recommendations by the UN human rights mechanisms, including
the special procedures, the treaty bodies and the Universal
Periodic Review, can be found on the Universal Human Rights
Index https://uhri.ohchr.org/en/
UN
Human Rights, country page
–https://www.ohchr.org/en/countries/afghanistan
