#Afghanistan - Gross Violations - Ignorant Taliban have quickly reinstated some of the harshest policies

A full year has passed since the Taliban’s takeover with human rights violations continuing to erupt at full capacity in Afghanistan even though the media’s attention has shifted elsewhere. Many feared the return of the Taliban after the US withdrew its forces from the country, but a few expected the terrorist organization to take charge of the country so quickly. Despite pledges of moderation and reform when they first assumed power, the Taliban have quickly reinstated some of the harshest policies.

Women have been systematically erased from public spaces and their fundamental liberties taken away, including the right to secondary school education. At the university level, women are constantly harassed, and their every move is surveilled so meticulously that many have decided to quit schooling altogether. Things hit a new low after a fatwa issued by the government last year that forbids women from going out in public without a male companion. As if this wasn’t mortifying enough, child and forced marriages have also experienced a violent surge under the Taliban government due to limited professional prospects for women. Even in areas where women are still allowed to work, such as primary education and healthcare, they are often unable to comply with the government’s oppressive stipulations. Female doctors, for instance, aren’t allowed to interact with male patients.

Religious minorities are also routinely subjected to violence-a recent attack against the Kaaj Educational Centre in September claimed 54 lives, of which 51 were Hazara women. Individuals associated with the National Resistance Front, an anti-Taliban military alliance, are also detained and tortured without prior notice with many pointing towards an increasing trend of “revenge killings” under the regime, with numbers exceeding the hundreds. Ethnic favouritism runs rampant in the government, which consists almost entirely of Pashtuns. When minorities demand more representation and protest, they are met with invasive raids and militarised crackdowns.

After western donors withdrew their billions of aid from the country, the economy completely collapsed; forcing the country into virtual isolation. Currently, Afghanistan is completely cut off from the world and this has emboldened the regime to clamp down on its people with an iron fist. With no one to keep them in check, the Taliban has free reign to do what it wishes. It is essential that governments abroad apply pressure on the Afghan government about its human rights record, so they know someone is watching.