Taliban mark five years in power in Kabul as UN warns of gender persecution crime against humanity

Celebrations in Kabul

Taliban officials and thousands of citizens gathered at Afghanistan's traditional Loya Jirga assembly hall on Saturday to mark the fifth anniversary of the movement's return to power on 15 August 2021. Armoured vehicles paraded past the former US embassy in Kabul, with fighters waving white Taliban flags. New murals across the capital declared "Independence is a sign of dignity, pride and identity." Celebrations were also held in provinces across the country, with flags and posters displayed along major roads and marketplaces. No women were present at the Loya Jirga ceremony. The authorities planned a cricket match and other sports events from which girls and women are banned from attending.

Deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat led a prayer at the gathering.

We pray to Almighty God to forever protect our homeland from occupation, aggression, wars, and insecurity, and to enable our people to enjoy peace, tranquility, and prosperity under the auspices of the Sharia-based government.

Interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani said in a video address that the Taliban's return to power resulted from "morale, courage" and "divine assistance," but also made a rare acknowledgement of "issues and problems that may still exist."

Deepening rights crisis

UN special rapporteur Richard Bennett said in a video message that Afghanistan was undergoing a deep human rights crisis, with the situation having steadily deteriorated.

While the era of war has ended, it's questionable whether there's real peace, and the human rights situation has steadily deteriorated, most dramatically for women and girls. My mandate has concluded that this system amounts to the crime against humanity of gender persecution.

The UN has described the Taliban's restrictions as "gender apartheid." Girls were barred from secondary schools in March 2022, with universities closed to women later that year. The UN reported that some 2.4 million girls are now denied access to secondary education, a number UNESCO says could reach nearly 4 million by 2030 if the ban persists. UNESCO also estimates the ban on higher education will cost the economy $9.6 billion in lost income by 2066. Half of Afghan women now leave their homes only once or twice a month, according to data released by UN Women on Wednesday. Women are also banned from parks, gyms, beauty salons and UN premises.

Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee said women and girls in Afghanistan have been subjected to "an appalling campaign of discriminatory violence, abuse and exclusion" and reiterated Ireland's "unwavering support" for the Afghan people.

Security and economy

The Taliban has significantly weakened the Islamic State Khorasan Province and now controls all of Afghanistan, maintaining relative security that allows Afghans to travel to parts of the country once considered inaccessible. However, the group has faced a string of assassinations in the northeast. In late July, the Taliban's information director in Badakhshan province was killed in an attack claimed by Islamic State. The mayor of the provincial capital was also killed in an attack on Thursday, local media reported.

Economically, the picture is mixed. GDP per capita is in decline, due in part to more than 6 million Afghans arriving from neighbouring Iran and Pakistan in three years, while the World Bank estimated real growth reaching 4.8 percent. University student Pirooz Mirzaie said the government has brought security and infrastructure projects but noted that "there aren't many jobs." Government chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the authorities were laying the "foundations of the economy" and that patience was needed.

International isolation

Five years on, the Taliban government remains internationally unrecognised, with Russia the only country to have formally recognised it. Relations with Pakistan, initially the Taliban's most important partner, are tense as Islamabad accuses Kabul of supporting Pakistani insurgents. Many former embassies in Kabul have remained empty since the Taliban's return to power. Nevertheless, some countries are concluding that engagement has become unavoidable. In June, a delegation of Taliban officials flew to Brussels for talks with 15 EU nations about returning failed asylum seekers, a move that drew criticism from EU lawmakers and rights watchdogs.