The statement, co-sponsored by other civil society organizations like Right to Learn, Muslims for Progressive Values, and Feminist Majority Foundation, as well as Afghan-led organizations, including the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) and the Women and Children Research and Advocacy Network (WCRAN), draws the Human Rights Council’s attention to the Declaration on Gender Apartheid and Its Destructive Consequences, launched in August. Humanists International endorsed this Declaration, whose signatories include several international legal experts, including three Nobel Laureates and one former High Commissioner for Human Rights.
In the statement, Humanists International highlighted the instrumentalization of religion and culture by the Taliban to justify the legal framework for gender apartheid, noting that recent laws and the proffered justifications for them all violate international law. The statement thus welcomed the Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan’s recommendation to codify gender apartheid as a crime against humanity, a call that has been echoed by the UN Secretary-General and the High Commissioner, as well as by international legal and human rights experts from around the world. As the international community moves towards considering an International Convention on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity, it is important to advocate for gender minorities.
The rights of women and girls in Afghanistan were discussed by several Delegations at the meeting, suggesting global convergence on this important issue. Humanists International addressed a gap between purported support for Afghan women and girls and the involuntary return of asylum seekers to Afghanistan. Joining the Special Rapporteur and many other Delegations in advocating for the the presumption of refugee status to be applied to women and girls fleeing gender apartheid, the statement reiterated what the Declaration states. Humanists International thus reminded States that they must comply with the non-derogable principle of non-refoulement.
Humanists International has been consistently advocating for women’s and children’s rights in Afghanistan at the UN, and has passed a resolution on the topic at its 2024 General Assembly in Singapore. Addressing the Special Rapporteur and the Human Rights Council during its 63rd session, Humanists International joined calls from the international community, and particularly Afghan women, to address impunity for gender apartheid in Afghanistan. The Special Rapporteur, in his reply to the Council, reiterated his own call for the codification of gender apartheid as a crime against humanity.
Photo by Faruk Tokluoğlu via Pexels.
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