UN human rights experts issued a forceful appeal to the international community on Thursday to reject the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, denouncing it as violent, illegitimate and fundamentally oppressive.

Experts described widespread human rights violations, including public executions, corporal punishment, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture, and targeted discrimination against ethnic, religious, and LGBTQ+ minorities.

They warned that the regime operates without legitimacy and enforces “an institutionalized system of gender oppression” that crushes dissent, suppresses independent media, and flagrantly violates fundamental human rights, stating:

For four years the people of Afghanistan, especially women and girls, have endured a relentless and escalating assault on their fundamental rights and freedoms. Operating without legitimacy, the Taliban enforces an institutionalised system of gender oppression, crushes dissent, exacts reprisals, and muzzles independent media while showing outright contempt for human rights, equality and non-discrimination.

They further argued that systemic discrimination targeting women and girls “is so severe that it amounts to the crime against humanity of persecution on grounds of gender.” Crimes against humanity include some of the most severe human rights abrogations, including murder, torture, and rape.

Experts praised the recent issuance of International Criminal Court arrest warrants for two top Taliban leaders and urged the international community to support all efforts aimed at holding perpetrators accountable.

Pushing for a more robust response, they called for an “all-tools” approach—combining principled advocacy, increased pressure, and international accountability—including establishing a comprehensive, complementary investigative body with full mandate to address and document abuses.

“Every day without action strengthens the Taliban’s oppressive grip. Standing side by side with the people of Afghanistan is both a moral imperative and a human rights responsibility. It is in the interest not only of the Afghan people, but the global community,” they stated.

After US and NATO forces withdrew from Afghanistan with the Fall of Kabul in August 2021, and the Taliban regained control of the country. Among world powers, the Taliban regime is only recognized by Russia.