Resolution of the AWNFM on the Fourth Anniversary of the Fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – 15 August 2025
8/15/20252 min read
Four years ago, on 15 August 2021, with the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the country's political, social, and legal institutions were surrendered by political actors to the armed Taliban group. This event marked the beginning of an era of gender apartheid, systematic human rights violations, and widespread crimes against the people of Afghanistan.
Over the past four years:
The right to education has been completely denied to girls, with schools and universities closed to female students.
The right to work has been taken away from women, excluding them from administrative, economic, and social life.
The right to freedom of movement and public participation has been severely restricted, preventing women from accessing most public spaces.
Hundreds of women and girls have been arrested, tortured, subjected to sexual violence, or killed for peacefully protesting.
Civil society activists, journalists, and political opponents have been targeted through assassination, threats, enforced disappearances, and forced exile.
The institutionalized gender discrimination embedded in Taliban laws and policies constitutes gender apartheid and represents a clear violation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
We unequivocally declare that:
The Taliban have committed crimes against humanity and must be recognized internationally as an extremist and violent group responsible for gender apartheid.
The Taliban possess no political or legal legitimacy, and any recognition of their rule constitutes a violation of the fundamental principles of international law.
The silence, inaction, and in some cases cooperation of certain governments and international institutions have contributed to the continuation of these crimes and made them complicit in the ongoing situation.
This Resolution calls upon all governments, international organizations, and human rights institutions to:
Refrain from recognizing the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan and acknowledge them as a regime of gender apartheid and a systematic violator of human rights.
Immediately refer the crimes committed by the Taliban, particularly crimes against women and girls, to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Establish a permanent international monitoring mechanism, under the supervision of the United Nations Human Rights Council, to document and report human rights violations in Afghanistan.
Provide immediate, practical, and sustained support to Afghan women, human rights defenders, and civil society organizations, both inside Afghanistan and in exile.
Ensure that all international assistance to Afghanistan is strictly conditioned on respect for human rights and delivered under the full oversight of independent and impartial institutions, with particular attention to the rights of women and girls.
Our Commitment
As part of the people of Afghanistan and as defenders of women's rights, we reaffirm our commitment to continue our political, civic, and legal struggle until the rule of this violent, misogynistic group comes to an end and gender apartheid is dismantled in Afghanistan.
These four years have been years of darkness and profound crimes, but they have also been years of resistance and the pursuit of truth.
The Taliban and their supporters must understand that the people of Afghanistan—especially its women—will never retreat from their fundamental rights, and history will not forget these crimes nor those who enabled them.
Afghanistan Women's New Future Movement (AWNFM)