A new decree from Afghanistan's Taliban government is set to further crush rights and freedoms in the war-torn nation, especially for women, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said on Thursday.
The Taliban has restricted women's movements and barred girls from education beyond primary school since coming to power in 2021, via a series of morality laws that also limit expression and employment.
Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said a decree signed by Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada last month "defines several crimes and punishments that contravene Afghanistan's international legal obligations."
"It provides for the use of corporal punishment for numerous offenses, including in the home, legitimizing violence against women and children," he told a Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva.
"The decree, which is expected to come into effect soon, extends the number of offenses that carry the death penalty."
Decree violates freedom of expression, assembly
The decree also criminalizes criticism of the de facto leadership and its policies, in violation of freedom of expression and assembly, he said.
Detailed provisions of the decree have not been officially published by the Taliban's Ministry of Justice or Supreme Court, and Reuters has not been able to obtain the text from officials.
The Afghan administration did not respond to an immediate request for comment.
Turk urged the Taliban to rescind the decree, impose a moratorium on executions, and end corporal punishment, saying women and girls face persecution under a system he likened to gender apartheid. The Taliban says women's rights are internal matters and should be addressed locally.
Turk said the killing of 13 civilians in recent Pakistani airstrikes highlights the need for urgent political dialogue over further escalation.
"I am very concerned by a sharp increase in civilian casualties in cross-border clashes with Pakistani military forces," he said.
Pakistan has said it launched airstrikes inside Afghanistan targeting militant safe havens, an allegation Kabul has repeatedly denied. The Taliban authorities condemned the strikes as a violation of Afghanistan's sovereignty and said they would respond at what they described as an appropriate time.