resolution motion, 16 September 2024
On the deteriorating situation of women in Afghanistan due to the recent adoption of the law on the “Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice”
Motion B-10-2024-0038 · (2024/2803(RSP))
on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group · Rapporteur: Hannah Neumann, Mounir Satouri, Catarina Vieira, Erik Marquardt, Maria Ohisalo, Sergey Lagodinsky, Nicolae Ştefănuță, Vicent Marzà Ibáñez, Alice Kuhnke, Gordan Bosanac, Leoluca Orlando, Lena Schilling
AI:In short
The resolution condemns the Taliban's gender apartheid and the recent morality law restricting women's rights in Afghanistan, demanding its rescission and the immediate restoration of education for girls. It calls on the EU and member states to increase humanitarian aid, support civil society, impose sanctions on violators, avoid deporting Afghans, and promote gender apartheid as an international crime.
Key points
- Expresses grave concern about the humanitarian and human rights crises in Afghanistan.
- Calls for the immediate rescinding of the morality law and condemns gender apartheid.
- Demands that the Taliban allow girls of all ages to attend school and receive education on an equal basis with boys.
- Denounces targeting of human rights defenders, journalists, LGBTIQ+ people, dissidents, judges, and repression of peaceful protest.
- Condemns arbitrary detention of human rights defenders, protestors, and artists, and calls for their immediate release.
- Calls for halting executions and abolishing the death penalty and other cruel punishments.
- Urges the EU to increase support to Afghan civil society, especially women's rights groups, and fund protection programmes for human rights defenders and minorities.
- Calls on the EU and member states to expand restrictive measures against violators, support the UN Special Rapporteur's mandate, and establish an independent investigative mechanism.
- Calls on the EU and member states to increase humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people.
- Insists on maintaining conditional engagement with the Taliban based on the Council's five benchmarks.
- Denounces pushbacks of Afghans at EU borders and calls on member states to refrain from deporting Afghan nationals and grant residence permits.
- Calls on the High Representative to spearhead an EU initiative to codify gender apartheid as a crime under international law.
Who is affected
- Women and girls in Afghanistan, whose rights are restricted by the morality law.
- Religious and ethnic minorities, particularly Hazaras, facing repression and discrimination.
- Human rights defenders, journalists, civil society actors, LGBTIQ+ people, dissidents, judges, protestors, and artists in Afghanistan.
- Afghan nationals seeking refuge in the EU, who should not be deported and should receive residence permits.
Written by AI from the full text · every figure comes from the text · ¶ opens the paragraph · 4 Sept 2026 · Report a problem
Full text
Text 22 paragraphs
B100038/2024
Motion for a European Parliament resolution on the deteriorating situation of women in Afghanistan due to the recent adoption of the law on the “Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice”
(2024/2803(RSP))
The European Parliament,
− having regard to Rule 150 of its Rules of Procedure,
A. Whereas, following the unsuccessful US-led military intervention, since their takeover on 15 August 2021, the Taliban have severely restricted the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the Afghan people, particularly women and girls who have been virtually erased from public life;
B. Whereas the recently adopted "Law On the Propagation Of Virtue And Prevention Of Vicereinforces and expands the draconian restrictions on the appearances, behaviour, and movement of women, and also enforces constraints on men;
C. Whereas religious and ethnic minorities, particularly the Hazaras, face growing repression, discrimination and marginalization;
D. Whereas over half of the Afghan population is in need of humanitarian assistance, while the Afghanistan Humanitarian Response Plan continues to be grossly underfunded;
1. Reiterates its grave concern about the humanitarian and human rights crises that continue to unfold in Afghanistan;
2. Expresses its continued outrage at the Taliban’s devastating policy of gender apartheid; called for the immediate rescinding of the recently adopted “morality law”;
3. Reiterates its demand that the Taliban immediately allow girls of all ages to attend school and receive education on an equal basis with boys;
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4. Denounces the relentless targeting of human rights defenders, journalists and other civil society actors, LGBTIQ+ people, dissidents, judges, as well as the brutal repression of peaceful protest and expressions of dissent;
5. Condemns, once again, the arbitrary detention of human rights defenders, protestors and artists arbitrarily arrested and calls for their immediate and unconditional release;
6. Reiterates its call for the immediate halting of executions and the abolition of the death penalty and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments;
7. Urges the EU to step up its support to Afghan civil society groups, notably those defending the rights of women and girls, and to fund specific assistance and protection programmes for human rights defenders and religious and ethnic minorities;
8. Calls on the EU and Member States to step up global efforts to ensure accountability, including by expanding EU restrictive measures against all entities and individuals responsible for these violations, support the renewal and the strengthening of the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan and support the establishing of an independent investigative mechanism under the next session of the UN Human Rights Council;
9. Calls on the EU and the Member States to step up the humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, within and outside the country;
10. Insists on maintaining a strict conditional engagement with the Taliban in accordance to the five benchmarks set by the Council for engagement with the de facto authorities;
11. Denounces the pushbacks that Afghans face at the EU external borders and calls on Member States to strictly refrain from deporting Afghan nationals and grant them residence permits;
12. Calls on the HR/VP to spearhead an EU initiative to promote the codification of gender apartheid as a crime under international law;
13. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the relevant parties.