In 1973, after decades of racist policies by South Africa’s National Party, the United Nations ratified a document that officially defined racial apartheid. This convention defined the crime of apartheid as “inhuman acts committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them.”
Apartheid is an Afrikaans word that translates to “apartness.” Now, more than 50 years later, this word describes the actions of the Taliban regime against women and girls in Afghanistan. The Taliban has instituted policies that violate the human rights of women and girls, forcefully parting them from society in the process.
The official definition of apartheid alone wasn’t enough to end the policies plaguing South Africa. It took both the codification of apartheid and international attention to force the National Party to step aside. Internal pressure wasn’t enough to overcome apartheid politics, but the resistance against these policies by South Africans is what inspired action by the international community. People across the world took notice of South Africa and eventually pressured their governments to stop apartheid in South Africa. Governments, feeling increasing pressure from their citizens, began to sanction South Africa where it hurt — their economy.
While it took many more steps to end decades-long apartheid in South Africa, it was the label of apartheid that allowed for the mobilization of international advocates and governments. Today, this same process could also work for Afghanistan and lead to the end of Gender Apartheid policies of the Taliban.
Experts in international law agree that the fastest way to stop the Taliban’s Gender Apartheid policies is through the codification of Gender Apartheid into international law, specifically for the International Criminal Court, which cemented the crime of apartheid in 2002. A proposed convention to add the crime of gender apartheid into law would closely follow the definition of racial apartheid, which is a well-accepted and supported concept that has 110 state parties.
The codification of Gender Apartheid as a crime against humanity would provide two avenues of redress for women in Afghanistan. First, the International Criminal Court (ICC) could charge top Taliban officials with the crime of Gender Apartheid, which would draw international attention to the human rights violations in the country and would hold the Taliban’s top officials responsible. Upon, signing the Rome Statute in 2003, Afghanistan gave jurisdiction to the ICC.
Second, the recognition of Gender Apartheid as an international crime would give activists a rallying cry and legitimize the movement, helping increase attention on the human rights situation in Afghanistan
While writing the crime of Gender Apartheid into international law may be the best and fastest way to improve human rights conditions for women in Afghanistan, it is easier said than done. Currently, some countries are hesitant to ratify the crime of gender apartheid.
Some believe that it is unnecessary to add a further law because gender persecution is already a crime under international law; however, gender persecution falls short of describing the comprehensive and systematic policies of apartheid.
Governments are also worried that by defining gender apartheid, they too could become a target of ICC investigations for their policies against women. This, however, is not adequate justification for not acting. Gender apartheid in Afghanistan is so singular and extreme that few countries come close to the conditions created by the Taliban against women.
As we approach the third year of the Taliban takeover of the government in Afghanistan and its Gender Apartheid regime, it is crucial for people across the world to put pressure on their home governments to act against the Taliban. The Taliban must not be accepted or legitimized. They must be sanctioned for their actions until they end their systematized persecution against women. To gain the attention of the world, the ICC must codify the crime of Gender Apartheid and hold the Taliban accountable for their actions against women and girls in Afghanistan.
Sources: UN-International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid; History; The Conversation.
