UN experts denounce Taliban treatment of women as crime

By RAHIM FAIEZ
Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A U.N. team of experts says the Taliban treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan may amount to a crime against humanity and should be investigated and prosecuted under international law. Friday’s statement by the U.N.-appointed experts followed a confirmation from the Taliban that three women were among 12 people lashed on Wednesday in front of hundreds of spectators at a provincial sports stadium. It signaled the Taliban’s resumption of a brutal form of punishment that was a hallmark of their rule in the 1990s. The U.N. experts said the latest Taliban actions have deepened existing rights violations — already the “most draconian globally.”