Human Rights Infringements of the Taliban

Human Rights Infringements of the Taliban

In the Middle East, specifically Pakistan and Afghanistan, there is an Islamist extremist group that resorts to terrorist actions in order to achieve and maintain power. In 1994 this group, called the Taliban, started in Afghanistan as a political organization and later invaded Pakistan. They have enforced strict Islamic rule on all of the inhabitants of the two countries. The Taliban protected Osama bin Laden after the United States had accused him of organizing the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Even though the Taliban may believe they’re protecting their religion, they are infringing upon the human rights of the Pakistani and Afghani people. By forcing them to follow Islamic rule, the Taliban violates article 18 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) that gives all people the right to choose their religion. They take extremist actions that infringes upon the people’s right to life, liberty and security of person, stated as a human right in article 3 of the UDHR.

The Taliban originally started because they believed they were doing something right. Their goal was to enforce Islamic law, called Shari’a. They went to extremes such as forcing men to grow beards and banning women from laughing out loud. Muslim religion is split into two sects: Sunni and Shia. The Taliban aims to make all Muslims Sunni. Unfortunately this means violently punishing anyone who identifies as a Shia Muslim. According to the Human Rights Watch World Report, “In 2012, at least 325 members of the Shia Muslim population were killed in targeted attacks that took place across Pakistan. ” The Taliban believe it is not only their right but their responsibility to protect and cleanse the Islam reli...

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... East. She is valuable because she is a primary source who actually witnessed the events and human rights infringements but her opinion living it firsthand may be a limitation due to bias.

Yousafzai, Malala. I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban. New York: Little Brown, 2013.

This book is an autobiography written by Malala Yousafzai, a girl who was shot by the Taliban in Pakistan for standing up for the right for girls to be educated. Her purpose is to spread knowledge and inspire people to stand up for education so that eventually the problem will be fixed in Pakistan. She is a primary source and experienced the violence of the Taliban firsthand, which is a value. The limitations are that she is a very biased source because she was so immersed in the events which occurred, was a female, and was living in Pakistan at the time.