Women’s Movement Condemns Taliban Courts’ Penal Code for Institutionalizing Violence
The Women’s Movement for Peace and Freedom has declared that the penal code of the Taliban administration’s courts is designed to institutionalize violence, turning it into a so-called legal framework in Afghanistan. The movement warned that such documents could pave the way for the normalization of crimes.
In a statement released on Friday, the movement said the Taliban administration developed this penal code with the aim of consolidating its rule and intensifying the repression of citizens, especially women. The movement believes that using judicial structures to cement power indicates a continuation of restrictive and discriminatory policies.
According to the statement, the criticized penal code promotes slavery, entrusts the basis of punishments to the orders and interpretations of clerics, and further strips away individual freedoms, particularly the rights and freedoms of women. It also states that criminalizing cultural practices, permitting the killing of dissenters, intensifying the suppression of religious freedoms, and legitimizing violence are other consequences of this document.
The Women’s Movement for Peace and Freedom has called on the public not to allow the Taliban administration to normalize and legalize its crimes under any pretext. The movement emphasized that silence in the face of such policies amounts to acceptance of structural violence.
The movement also urged the international community to hold the Taliban administration accountable for systematic human rights violations and the normalization of crimes against women. In conclusion, it highlighted the necessity of increasing effective and targeted political and diplomatic pressure and called for serious and immediate actions to end systematic discrimination and repression in Afghanistan.
