Netherlands wants Taliban prosecuted for violating women's rights in Afghanistan

The Netherlands, Germany, Canada, and Australia will take the Taliban to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) if it does not improve women’s rights in Afghanistan within six months, the countries’ Foreign Affairs Ministers announced at the UN General Assembly in New York.

“The situation of Afghan women and girls is heartbreaking. They are almost entirely excluded from public life. We cannot accept this. That’s why the Netherlands, Canada, Germany, and Australia are holding Afghanistan accountable for violations of the Women’s Convention,” Minister Caspar Veldkamp of Foreign Affairs said on X. “By holding Afghanistan to account, we aim to end the horrific laws and practices that restrict the rights of the female population.”

It would be the first time that a country is summoned to the international court for discriminating against women. A spokesperson for the Ministry told NOS that the four countries have held Afghanistan liable, which means they believe there is ample evidence that the Afghan authorities have not complied with a UN treaty. In this case, it is the UN Women’s Convention, which Afghanistan ratified in 2003, long before the Taliban seized power again in 2021.

Women’s rights rapidly deteriorated when the Taliban took power after Western armed forces left Afghanistan in 2021. The Taliban promised that they would be more moderate than when they were in power in the 1990s, but little has come of that promise. Women can now be publicly stoned for adultery, and girls are banned from attending education after primary school. Girls and women are also not allowed in parks and gyms, and women can only go outside with their faces covered and accompanied by a male family member.

Under the usual ICJ procedure, the Taliban now has six months to improve women’s rights. If that doesn’t happen, the Netherlands can propose that the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PHA) handle the case. If the Afghan regime doesn’t agree to that—which experts consider likely—the case will be submitted to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

André Nollkaemper, a professor of international law, considers it highly unlikely that the Taliban will care about the liability claim or accept a request for arbitration. “The Taliban have not yet given any signal that they intend to participate in the international legal game,” he told NOS. He expects the case to end up in the ICJ. “They will ultimately give a substantive verdict.”

According to Nollkaemper, an ICJ ruling that Afghanistan has violated women’s rights could improve women’s position in the country. “It would be a very authoritative ruling, which could lead to other countries exerting more pressure on those in power in Afghanistan. It is a very isolated regime, but they also need diplomatic relations. This could lead to more pressure from outside to change the position of women.”