On September 11, 2001, the US shook as four coordinated terrorist attacks took place in New York City and Washington, D.C., causing mass destruction. Just weeks after al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attack, President George W. Bush demanded that the leader of Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban faction, Mullah Muhammad Omar, turn over the then-leader of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, to the United States. However, when Omar rejected his demands, Bush began implementing his plan for war. What began as an attack to topple the Taliban government and deny al-Qaeda a base of operations in Afghanistan turned into a long, grueling twenty-year war. 

The first phase was evidently to topple the Taliban’s ultraconservative political and religious group that was governing much of Afghanistan at the time, the second phase was to rebuild core institutions, and the last phase was to temporarily increase the presence of U.S. troops in Afghanistan to protect the people from the dictating rule and attacks of the Taliban. However, on August 30, 2021, the US left Afghanistan, unsuccessful in their mission to transform the country into a modern and stable democracy. Two decades after the war in Afghanistan began, the Taliban has once again taken power over the nation, the same issue that the US wanted to resolve over twenty years ago.

Despite their initial promises to protect women's rights and press freedom after taking over power in 2021, they have already violated human rights. With the shift from an armed insurgency group to a government, the Taliban has failed to meet basic needs for the people of Afghanistan. Just a couple months after the Taliban took control on August 15, 2021, the United Nations warned that about 23 million people faced food insecurity and hunger, with 3 million children at the risk of death due to severe malnutrition. Under the Taliban’s control, Afghanistan has fallen into economic depression and lacks political stability under the new government.

Additionally, women in Afghanistan have seen many of their rights obliterated. “Women and girls have been stripped of their rights and face a bleak future, deprived of education or the possibility of taking part in public life,” says Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International’s South Asia Regional Director. Not only did women lose their fundamental human rights, but they were also told to refrain from going to work to “ensure their safety,” as a Taliban spokesman said. 

Additionally, after the Taliban took rule, the majority of secondary schools for girls were kept closed. Even in places where schools were open to girls, fear of harassment from teachers led to multiple students deciding to not attend. Gender and sexual violence against women also escalated through severe beatings, harassment, forced marriage, and murder. Between January to June 2021, the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs recorded 1,518 cases of violent acts towards women.

Since the Taliban’s control was re-established, protests have been widespread across the country. However, severe consequences emerged from these demonstrations. On September 4, 2021, a protest led by 100 women demanding inclusion in the government and rights was quickly brought down by tear gas and electroshock weapons by the Taliban special forces. Just three days later, on September 7, a schoolteacher and civil society activist, Omid Sharifi, was shot and killed. Protests were banned by the Taliban Ministry the following day. 

Additionally, although the Taliban promised to protect press freedom, in 2021, at least 12 journalists were killed and another 230 were assaulted, according to the Afghan Journalist Safety Committee. Since 1996, the Taliban have imposed a great deal of harm towards Afghanistan’s political and civil rights. Men, women, and children live their daily lives with constant fear of threats and harassment. Currently, more than 95% of people live in poverty in Afghanistan. 

But how is the world responding to the Taliban? During the War on Terror, the US used their military forces to create sanctions that targeted Taliban leaders and provided aid deliveries in Afghanistan. However, since the Taliban’s return to control, these deliveries have been hindered and many of the US efforts during the war have been restricted. Currently, many Western countries including the US have refused to maintain diplomatic ties with the Taliban. In addition, the UN General Assembly has still not voted on who will be representing Afghanistan in the United Nations.

The International Criminal Court has now also taken the Taliban into investigation for alleged abuses of Afghan citizens and human rights violations. However, according to Mishra, “Any hopes of change have quickly evaporated as the Taliban seek to govern through violent repression with full impunity.” To be able to see themselves as a free country that can participate in political affairs and work as a functional government, it is critical for the Taliban to accommodate diverse groups, tolerate free speech and expression, and meet the demands of women and girls for their fundamental rights.

Information retrieved from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the United States Institute of Peace, and the Council on Foreign Relations.