Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, called efforts to normalize relations with the Taliban a “betrayal of Afghan women, hypocrisy, and a grave mistake” in an interview with *Der Spiegel* magazine in Germany.
Criticizing attempts by some Western countries to establish
ties with the Taliban, Yousafzai said, “No country should normalize its
relations with the Taliban. The Taliban must be held accountable for the crimes
they have committed.”
“How can a country like Germany do such a thing? How can
anyone compromise on women’s rights in Afghanistan?” she said.
Yousafzai added that normalizing relations with the Taliban
means “normalizing the oppression of women,” calling it “a mistake, a betrayal,
and blatant hypocrisy.”
She said the situation for women in Afghanistan is now worse
than ever, with many living under “terror and fear” imposed by the Taliban.
Yousafzai urged the German government to reconsider its policy toward the
group.
“I call on the people of Germany to show solidarity with the
people of Afghanistan, to support Afghan women, and to listen to their voices,”
she said.
Yousafzai noted that before the fall of Kabul, some claimed
the Taliban had changed and become more moderate, but “the reality is that they
have become worse and more cunning.”
“The Taliban pretend on social media that they have brought
peace to Afghanistan,” she said. “But when women and girls are being suppressed,
there is no peace.”
Yousafzai also criticized the failure of international
mechanisms to hold the Taliban accountable and called for formal recognition of
“gender apartheid” in Afghanistan.
“Gender apartheid must be officially recognized as a crime
under international law,” she said. “The international community must take the
campaign of Afghan women seriously.”
According to Yousafzai, the Taliban have systematically
excluded women from public life, punished and imprisoned female activists, and
erased nearly all the achievements of the past two decades.
