The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has warned that Taliban rule has had a “devastating” impact on religious minorities in Afghanistan, particularly targeting women and children with physical and sexual violence.
According to the Commission’s 2024 annual report, members of minority religions face arbitrary arrest, torture, and corporal punishment. The Taliban reportedly label Hazaras as “infidels” and prohibit contact with Shia and Christian communities under their “promotion of virtue” laws.
The report highlights a sharp decline in religious freedom since the Taliban takeover, with the group continuing to enforce a strict interpretation of Islamic law that restricts the religious rights of all citizens. Taliban decrees disproportionately affect women, girls, and religious minorities, including Shias, Sikhs, Hindus, and Christians.
USCIRF has urged the U.S. government to impose targeted sanctions on Taliban officials responsible for serious religious freedom violations, particularly those working in the so-called Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
The Commission also called for Afghanistan to be re-designated as a “Country of Particular Concern” due to “systematic, ongoing, and egregious” violations of religious freedom. It further recommended appointing a new U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan and a dedicated envoy for women and girls, with a mandate focused on religious rights.
The report, released on August 14, underscores how the Taliban severely restrict the movement, dress, education, and even speech of women. It states that dozens of individuals were detained in Kabul and Daikundi in 2024 for violating Taliban-imposed hijab rules.
The Taliban’s religious police have sweeping powers to detain anyone suspected of violating their decrees. The report notes that under Taliban law, wearing or promoting symbols like crosses, neckties, and other “non-Islamic” items is criminalized. Punishments include public beatings, floggings, executions, stonings, and humiliations such as forced head shaving.
Earlier reports also surfaced of the Taliban coercing Ismaili communities in Badakhshan to convert to their version of Islam.
