By Rukhshana Media
The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has “accelerated the country’s human rights crisis and humanitarian catastrophe,” said the Human Rights Watch 2022 World Report released on Thursday.
The report draws a bleak picture of the country’s social and human rights situation. “Afghans are caught between Taliban oppression and the spectre of starvation,”
Patricia Gossman, Human Rights Watch associate Asia director, said in a statement summarizing the report.
The report says that the Taliban has severely curtailed women’s rights and media freedom. “Taliban authorities [has] announced a steady stream of policies and regulations rolling back women’s and girls’ rights,” the report reads.
The report also highlights that the Taliban has closed schools to many secondary school girls and has banned women from working outside the home.
The report underlines the deteriorating human rights situation in the country, highlighting that the Taliban have beaten and tortured journalists for doing their jobs.
The report criticizes the “chaotic evacuation” which has left behind thousands of vulnerable people who are “at risk of Taliban retaliation.”
Due to loss of aid money and the freeze of Afghanistan’s currency reserve, Millions of people are at risk of famine, the report warns.
Western governments “should provide humanitarian aid and fund basic services, including health and education, while using their leverage to press for an end to Taliban rights violations,” said Gossman, drawing attention to both humanitarian crises due to economic collapse and Taliban human rights abuses.
The report comes when the Taliban authorities have stepped up repression of dissent and curtailing freedom of speech.
