EU Parliament member calls for targeted sanctions on Taliban

Hanna Neumann, a member of the European Parliament, expressed severe concern over the Taliban courts' penal code, stating that the group 'enslaves women' and urging the European Union to impose sanctions on the Taliban.

In a video message on Wednesday, Neumann said: 'Women are banned from working. Girls are deprived of education and they cannot even go anywhere without a male guardian. This is not just restriction, it is forced dependency. This is slavery.' She emphasized that the law should protect people, but in Afghanistan it is used to eliminate women. According to Neumann, Taliban laws are not for protecting society and what the Taliban offers is 'not culture, not religion, but a legal system based on gender apartheid.'

Neumann called on the EU to respond to the Taliban's misogynistic actions with 'targeted sanctions.' She added that gender apartheid should be recognized as a crime against humanity in EU laws and support provided to Afghan girls and women. She stressed that silence in the face of Taliban behavior 'is not neutrality but complicity with them.'

Over the past year, some EU member countries have sought to establish relations with the Taliban, citing issues such as deporting refugees, stabilizing identity documents for refugees, and preventing potential threats from Afghan soil. Germany has handed over Afghanistan's embassy and consulates to Taliban representatives, while Norway and Austria have accepted Taliban representatives.

Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, warned in a new report, a copy of which was obtained by Afghanistan International, that without urgent international action, Afghan women's deprivation, including access to health services, will persist. Bennett highlighted that escalating Taliban restrictions and declining global aid have deeply impacted women and girls in Afghanistan. In his report focusing on women's and girls' health rights, he stated that Taliban policies, including broad restrictions on education, work, freedom of movement, and health services, systematically violate women's fundamental rights. He described these actions as a clear case of 'gender apartheid.'

Bennett urged the international community to avoid normalizing relations or legitimizing Taliban rule unless there are real and tangible changes in human rights, especially for women and girls. He also called on governments to recognize 'gender apartheid' as a crime against humanity in international documents.