Amnesty International in Belgium condemns Taliban restrictions on women
Amnesty International activists in Belgium on Wednesday, 22 Mizan, condemned the Taliban administration’s sweeping restrictions on women and girls in Afghanistan by unfurling a 25-metre banner in Brussels’ Forst Park.
The banner read: “Women not allowed.” Participants formed a human chain and chanted “Solidarity with Afghan women” to show support for women and girls facing ever tighter restrictions.
Karine Thibou, head of Amnesty International’s French-speaking branch in Belgium, said that if Forst Park were in Afghanistan, women would not be allowed to enter it. She added that the Taliban administration has barred women and girls from participating in various parts of public life.
According to Thibou, the bans include being denied education after the age of 12, being prohibited from sport and public speaking, and restrictions on employment. She also warned about the consequences of the Taliban administration’s new criminal regulations for women and called on the Belgian government to act against human rights violations in Afghanistan.
Amnesty International said it has prepared a petition addressed to Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot, with nearly 27,000 signatures. Representatives of the organisation are expected to hand over the signatures, along with an album of images from protest actions in Belgium, to him.
Local Amnesty International groups, in cooperation with local institutions and activists in about 40 Belgian cities and municipalities, have installed signs bearing the words “Women and girls not allowed” at the entrances to hundreds of locations, including schools, universities, public parks, government institutions and sports fields.
The organisation has called on the Belgian government to increase pressure on the Taliban administration, work to establish an international mechanism to hold it accountable for human rights violations, and halt talks on the forced return of Afghan citizens to their country.
Thibou warned that continuing discussions about the forced deportation of Afghan citizens could lead to the normalisation of Taliban policies and the continuation of violations of the rights of Afghan women and girls.
