On the deteriorating situation of women in Afghanistan due to the recent adoption of the law on the “Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice”

B100045/2024

Motion for a European Parliament resolution on the deteriorating situation of women in Afghanistan due to the recent adoption of the law on the “Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice”

(2024/2803(RSP))

The European Parliament,

–having regard to Rule 150 of its Rules of Procedure,

A.whereas by returning to its 1990s absolutist methods, Taliban has broken promises for inclusive governance, re-started repressions, particularly against women and girls, ethnic minorities and LGBTIQ+, and isolated Afghanistan resulting in hunger and poverty;

B. Whereas since 2021, the Taliban have implemented their extreme interpretation of Sharia and erased women from public life; Whereas restrictions include barring women from work and healthcare without a male relative, banning education beyond sixth grade, violently enforcing a dehumanising dress code negating their presence in the public space and dismantling the support system for victims of violence;; Whereas restrictions on their rights to travel hinders Afghan women from obtaining EU visas;

C. Whereas a recent Taliban decree, the so-called Law on Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, extends these restrictions by imposing that female voices must not be heard in public, which further deprives Afghan women of their fundamental right to freedom of expression, amounting to gender apartheid;

D. Whereas the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, called this “a new stage in the ongoing regression in the respect for human rights” which amounts to a “crime against humanity”;

1.Condemns the Taliban’s interpretation and enforcement of Sharia law, the erasure of women and girls from public life and the reintroduction of the public flogging and stoning of women to death; Commends the courage of Afghan women who despite life-threatening risks fight for their rights, organize street and protests and circulate education material; Stands in solidarity with them;

2.Urges the de-facto Afghan authorities to abolish its recent decree; Calls for the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and girls in public life to be immediately restored;

3.Urges the de-facto Afghan authorities reopen the support system for victims of violence against women and girls and to ensure ways of seeking shelter, medical care, legal recourse and reparations; and Calls for victims of violence against women and girls to be released from prison

4.Supports Afghan civil society’s calls to hold the de-facto authorities accountable, particularly through the ICC investigation, by establishing a UN Independent Investigative Mechanism and calls upon the HR/VP to initiate new EU sanctions against the Taliban officials responsible for repressions against Afghan women and vulnerable groups;

5.Urges Member States and the international community to refrain from resuming diplomatic relations with Afghanistan and strictly adhere to the currently unfulfilled five benchmarks set by the Council and the UN Special Rapporteur’s recommendations;

6.Urges the EU Member States and other donor states to increase humanitarian aid and funding to support the basic needs and livelihoods and Afghan civil society, ensuring flexible funding for NGOs with long-term initiatives and their female aid workers, , including through granting humanitarian visas; Stresses the need for the international community to assess the impact of the recent decree on humanitarian operations,

7.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the EU institutions, the Member States, the UN and the de-facto Afghan authorities.