New Sanctions Imposed on Taliban Officials for Repression of Women and Girls

The U.S. Treasury announced new sanctions over the weekend against two Taliban regime officials in Afghanistan, accusing the men of roles in the systemic "repression of women and girls." The Treasury specifically noted the Taliban's ban on girls attending school beyond the sixth grade as "severe and pervasive discrimination."

According to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW), the policies implemented by the Taliban could lead to a "lost generation" of children and have a lasting impact on Afghanistan's future. The report includes first-hand accounts from educators and students who describe schools that, since the Taliban's return to power in August 2021, have adopted a more religious-based curriculum enforced by alleged abuse.

"Harming the whole school system"

HRW's Dec. 5 report includes first-hand accounts from educators and students who describe schools that, since the Taliban's Aug. 2021 return to power following the withdrawal of U.S.-led international forces, have adopted a far more religious-based curriculum, enforced by alleged abuse.

For more information, please read the full report here.

A rights group reported that one student claimed that female teachers who had expertise in their subjects were being dismissed.

6th Grade Girls Finish School, Maybe Forever

The school year in Afghanistan ends in December, and girls finishing the sixth grade will no longer be permitted to enter classrooms in the Taliban's Afghanistan. Young women have also been barred by the Taliban from attending universities, and women excluded from many professions, including beauty salons.

Afghan education activist Shafiqa Khpalwak, speaking over the weekend on the "Afghanistan International" television network, which is based outside the country, said one teacher had told her that as she sobbed along with her students on their last day, some girls told her they wanted to fail — so they could repeat the sixth grade and keep coming to school.

"The Taliban's impact on the education system is harming children today and will haunt Afghanistan's future," Fetrat said. "An immediate and effective international response is desperately needed to address Afghanistan's education crisis."

U.S. sanctions 2 senior Taliban officials

On Saturday, the United States Treasury imposed sanctions against 20 people worldwide, including two senior Taliban officials, over human rights abuses, marking International Human Rights Day.

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed financial sanctions on Fariduddin Mahmood and Khalid Hanafi "for serious human rights abuse related to the repression of women and girls, including through the restriction of access to secondary education for women and girls in Afghanistan solely on the basis of gender. This gender-based restriction reflects severe and pervasive discrimination against women and girls and interferes with their enjoyment of equal protection."

Hanafi is the Taliban's acting Minister of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, a powerful department within the Taliban administration that implements the group's harsh interpretation of Islamic law through "morality" policing on the streets and in government offices. The treasury said the ministry's enforcers "have engaged in serious human rights abuse, including killings, abductions, whippings, and beatings" and "assaulted people protesting the restrictions on women's activity, including access to education."

Mahmood is the acting general director of the Afghanistan Academy of Sciences. Both Hanafi and Mahmood are believed to be close to the Taliban's supreme leader, and both are against girls' education.