WASHINGTON ¨C When the last American soldier flew out of Afghanistan on Aug. 30, 2021, leaving the country to Taliban rule, the world braced for a human rights nightmare.
In that sense, the Taliban have met expectations. The country¡¯s extremist rulers, who seized power from an American-backed government of 20 years, have carried out revenge killings, torture and abductions, according to international observers. They have also imposed the world¡¯s most radical gender policies, denying education and employment to millions of Afghan women and girls ¡ª even shutting down beauty parlors.
On Aug. 14, a group of United Nations officials issued a report saying the Taliban had engaged in ¡°a continuous, systematic and shocking rescinding of a multitude of human rights, including the rights to education, work, and freedoms of expression, assembly and association.¡±
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