Rights Groups Slam Taliban Restrictions On Afghan Women As 'Crime Against Humanity'

A Taliban fighter stands guard as women wait to receive food rations distributed by a humanitarian aid group in Kabul on May 23.

Two top rights groups on May 26 slammed the severe restrictions imposed on women and girls by the Taliban in Afghanistan as gender-based persecution, which is a crime against humanity. In a new report, Amnesty International and the International Commission for Jurists underscored how the Taliban crackdown on Afghan women's rights, coupled with "imprisonment, enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment," could constitute gender persecution under the International Criminal Court. Despite initial promises of a more moderate rule, the Taliban started to enforce restrictions on women and girls soon after their takeover in August 2021. To read the original story by AP, click here.