US sanctions Taliban members for repression of Afghan women, girls

Washington, Feb 1 (EFE).- The United States secretary of state announced Wednesday that Washington will impose visa restrictions on Taliban members and others for the repression of women and girls in Afghanistan.

“I am taking action today to impose additional visa restrictions on certain current or former Taliban members, members of non-state security groups, and other individuals believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, repressing women and girls in Afghanistan through restrictive policies and violence, including the Taliban’s decision to ban women from universities and from working with NGOs,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

“Through these decisions, the Taliban have again shown their disregard for the welfare of the Afghan people.”

In addition, the restrictions may also be applied to immediate family members of the sanctioned persons.

Since the fundamentalists came to power a year and a half ago, Afghan women’s rights have been drastically reduced under restrictions such as gender segregation in public places, the imposition of the burqa and the requirement to be accompanied by a male relative on long-distance journeys.

Blinken said that the actions of the Taliban have “forced over one million school-aged Afghan girls and young women out of the classroom, with more women out of universities and countless Afghan women out of the workforce.”

Life for Afghans today is increasingly similar to the time of the first regime between 1996 and 2001 when girls were prohibited from attending school and women largely confined to the home. EFE

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