UN experts: Taliban's treatment of women may amount to a crime against humanity

A group of United Nations experts said the Taliban's treatment of Afghan women and girls, including by preventing them from going to parks and gyms as well as from secondary school and university education, may amount to a crime against humanity.

An assessment by the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, and nine other UN experts said the treatment of women and girls may amount to "gender-based persecution" under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which includes Afghanistan.

"Confining women to their homes amounts to imprisonment," the experts said in a statement.

They added that this is likely to lead to higher levels of domestic violence and mental health problems.

The experts also cited the arrest earlier this month of women's activist Zarifa Yaqubi and four male colleagues.

The experts said they were still in detention.

Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news