Albares reaffirms Spain's commitment to protect and support Afghan women and girls

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares Bueno, today reaffirmed Spain's commitment to the protection and support of Afghan women and girls, while highlighting that Spain is working to end impunity for human rights violators, as well as to ensure accountability for crimes committed in Afghanistan.

Albares, after opening the HearUs Catalysing a political space and accountability for Afghan women conference, reiterated his condemnation of the curtailment of the rights of Afghan women and girls, which is “not only an attack on them, but an attack on the most fundamental human rights”. In this regard, he called on the Afghan authorities to revoke all decrees that violate the most fundamental rights of women and girls. 

The conference, attended by more than 50 Afghan women in exile, special envoys for Afghanistan and Ambassadors-at-Large for Gender Equality and Feminist Foreign Policy from numerous countries, as well as representatives of the United Nations and other international organisations, was co-organised with Women for Afghanistan.

The meeting amplified the voices of Afghan women, created a clear and cohesive approach, and agreed on the next steps to implement the decisions contained in the Tirana Declaration, adopted at the All Afghan Women Summit that took place in Tirana (Albania) on 13-15 September 2024.

These decisions include a commitment to the meaningful inclusion of Afghan women in all political processes related to Afghanistan; regular support for women-led initiatives, summits and dialogue processes in parallel with the Doha process; and a commitment to hold the Taliban accountable to international justice for human rights violations committed in Afghanistan, especially the human rights of women and girls. Afghan women have also issued a “Call to Action”, requesting that the international community meaningfully include Afghan women in all political processes concerning Afghanistan, and regularly support initiatives, summits and dialogue processes, such as the conference in Madrid.

Since the Taliban takeover in Kabul, the Spanish Government has prioritised giving a voice to Afghan women, who are silenced by law in their country. In 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation launched the HearUs initiative to support Afghan women in exile, so that they may safely expose human rights violations committed in Afghanistan and influence the humanitarian, security, and development agenda in the country.

Spain considers that the accountability of the Taliban before international justice is essential to put an end to the continuing and widespread human rights violations in Afghanistan. Our country has therefore joined other nations such as Albania, Chile, Finland, Luxembourg and Morocco, and supports the accountability initiative taken by Australia, Canada, Germany and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which have taken formal steps to call on Afghanistan to cease its violations of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), to which Afghanistan is a State Party, under Article 29, and which could lead to action against the country by the International Court of Justice.

In late November, Spain, together with Chile, Costa Rica, France, Luxembourg and Mexico, concerned about the worsening conditions and the seriousness of the human rights situation in Afghanistan, especially for women and girls, submitted a referral of the situation in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, asking it to include, in its investigation into the situation in Afghanistan, the crimes committed against women and girls since the Taliban took power in 2021.