UN warns of worsening human rights abuses under Taliban rule
Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has warned that the human rights situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating, saying the Taliban authorities are escalating their “cruel” measures every month and the world has remained silent in the face of the suffering of the Afghan people.
The United Nations released his comments on the human rights situation in Afghanistan on Wednesday, Sept. 18. Türk stressed that more pressure is needed to compel the Taliban authorities to respect human rights.
He said the situation in Afghanistan is going from “bad to worse” and that the people of the country have been left on their own to face a crisis that is deepening every day. According to him, “the silence is deafening.”
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also described the systematic exclusion of women and girls from public life as an unacceptable violation of human rights, saying these restrictions have been normalized and institutionalized by the Taliban authorities.
Türk added that the restrictions imposed by the Taliban authorities on women and girls in Afghanistan have no place in any society. He has previously called repeatedly for accountability over human rights violations in Afghanistan.
