Taliban continues to restrict rights of women and girls: UN report

Kabul [Afghanistan], July 17 : The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in a new report said that the Taliban continues to restrict the rights of women and girls, Afghanistan-based TOLO News reported. 
The seven-page report that covers the period from May to June highlighted the restrictions imposed by the Taliban on women. The report said, "On 3 May 2023, the de facto Ministry of Public Health announced that only male medical students would be permitted to take the ‘Exit Supplementary Exam’ in order to pursue further specialized medical studies," TOLO News reported. 
It further said that the move comes in addition to the earlier bans preventing women from appearing in the medical school exit examinations. The report said that the UNAMA recorded instances when the Taliban took measures to impose previously announced restrictions on women’s freedom of movement and participation in employment.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) referred to its report of May 27, 2023, about the impact of improvised explosive devices on civilians in Afghanistan from "15 August 2021 – 30 May 2023," TOLO News reported. 
According to the report, the UNAMA continues to document significant levels of civilian harm due to deliberate attacks using improvised explosive devices despite a reduction in civilian casualties recorded as a result of armed conflict in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover of the country on 15 August 2021.
The report said that UNAMA continues to record cases of "extrajudicial killing of former government and military personnel across Afghanistan." It said that Taliban-appointed security forces on May 24 carried out a search operation at a former Afghan National Defence and Security Force official's residence during which he was shot and killed. 
The report said, "On 24 May in Samangan, de facto security forces conducted a search operation at the home of a former Afghan National Defence and Security Force official, during which he was shot and killed," according to TOLO News report.
It further said that "arbitrary arrests and detentions" of former government and security personnel often accused of affiliation with the National Resistance Front are being conducted, particularly in Kabul and Panjshir provinces.
The report noted that killings of individuals accused of affiliation with ISIL-KP (Daesh) were also documented in Nangarhar and Kunar provinces in May and June, TOLO News reported.
The report slammed the formation of committees by Taliban-led Departments of Information and Culture” which aimed at monitoring activities of the media in their respective provinces. The UNAMA noted that no announcement has been made which reveals the exact mandate of these committees.
Earlier this month, the foreign ministers of six countries jointly called on the Taliban to swiftly reverse policies and practices that restrict women and girls from exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms, TOLO News reported. 
The call was made during a meeting of the foreign ministers from France, Germany, Indonesia, Liechtenstein, Mongolia, and South Africa at the Female Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on June 29 and 30. The statement issued at the meeting emphasized the need for full, equal, meaningful, and safe participation of women and girls in Afghanistan.
It "urged the Taliban to promptly reverse policies that hinder women and girls from enjoying their human rights and fundamental freedoms, including their access to education, employment, freedom of movement, and their full and meaningful participation in public life", as per TOLO News. The statement called on all states and organizations to use their influence, in accordance with the United Nations Charter, to facilitate an urgent reversal of these policies and practices.