WebTV – Session n.440, 5 March 2025
******** NON-OFFICIAL TRANSLATION ********
19th LEGISLATURE
Verbatim Report of the Chamber of Deputies
Session No. 440, Wednesday, March 5, 2025
PRESIDENCY OF VICE PRESIDENT SERGIO COSTA
Proceedings of immediate response questions.
(Initiatives concerning the international recognition of the crime of gender apartheid, specifically to protect the human rights of Afghan women and girls – No. 3-01780)
PRESIDENT. Let us move to the first question on the agenda, Zanella and others, No. 3-01780 (See Annex A). Deputy Zanella has the floor to explain her question.
LUANA ZANELLA (AVS). Thank you, President. Mr. Minister, we dedicate this question time, focused on the situation of women, to ask you about the situation of women in Afghanistan, a country abandoned and literally handed over into the hands of the Taliban, forgotten by the international community, despite 20 years of war and occupation. As you know, Italy participated with a significant expenditure of 8.7 billion euros. The situation for women is dramatic.
Our NGOs, associations, and the Afghan diaspora are pleading for the international community, and of course Italy, to take responsibility, and the International Criminal Court has requested the issuance of two arrest warrants for the supreme Taliban leader and the head of justice, Haqqani, for crimes against humanity and the persecution of women. (Applause from members of the Green Alliance and Left group).
PRESIDENT. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, has the floor to respond.
ANTONIO TAJANI, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Thank you, Mr. President. I thank all the parliamentary groups who, through their initiative, allow us to deepen today, in this chamber, the crucial issue of women’s rights, a priority area for the Government’s action, including internationally. Afghanistan is one of the most evident examples. Our main goal is to improve the living conditions of the population, especially women and girls.
At last year’s Doha Conference, we announced a humanitarian package for Afghanistan totaling 16.5 million euros, including interventions in favor of women. Regarding gender equality, which was also the subject of a dedicated ministerial meeting, our G7 Presidency paid special attention to this issue, and in reference to Afghanistan, I wanted the declarations adopted by Foreign Ministers in Capri and Fiuggi to strongly condemn the grave violations of women’s rights.
As you know, we do not maintain diplomatic relations with Kabul since the Taliban returned to power, and like nearly all other countries, we relocated our embassy to Doha. At the same time, we maintain pragmatic contacts with the de facto authorities, though at minimal levels. This, of course, does not represent a legitimization of the regime; we do this within the framework of our priority action of preventing irregular migration and combating human traffickers, as well as facilitating humanitarian assistance activities on the ground.
In this way, we continue to express to Afghan interlocutors our strong concern about the progressive deterioration of human rights and the condition of women. It is no coincidence that last year I appointed a woman, Ambassador Ugolini, to Kabul, and I asked her to give special attention to this issue. (Applause from members of the Forza Italia-Berlusconi Presidente-PPE group).
We have also expressed ourselves severely, most recently last Friday at the United Nations in Geneva, during the interactive dialogue with the special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Afghanistan. This is a battle where Italy is at the forefront to fight every form of discrimination, persecution, and systemic segregation against women in Afghanistan and in every other country in the world. These are very serious practices, amounting to outright gender-based persecution, a crime already codified internationally.
Our solidarity and support – excuse me, Mr. President, if I’ve taken too long – go to the women, girls, and children living in crisis and conflict areas, and to all those who courageously demand, every day, the right to participate in the political, economic, social, and cultural life of their country. Finally, allow me to remind you of the “red benches” I had installed at the Farnesina and at our foreign offices in memory of the many, too many women victims of violence.
The “red bench” is a symbol: the empty seat left in society by a woman who is a victim of femicide. We must sit on those benches and give our support to women against violence and any form of discrimination, starting with Afghanistan. (Applause from members of the Forza Italia-Berlusconi Presidente-PPE group).
PRESIDENT. Deputy Zanella has the floor for a reply.
LUANA ZANELLA (AVS). Mr. Minister, we have an immense debt to Afghan women, both moral and material. They were used and instrumentalized as a symbol and reason for a war against fundamentalism and terrorism. You remember in this chamber the waving of the burqa, precisely to say: we are entering armed with our armies into Afghanistan. But why? To import, or rather, to export our democracy and ensure that Afghan women are free.
Well, what happened in 2021, Minister? These women were abandoned to the vengeful fury of the Taliban, who took power exactly as they did 20 years before, and even more harshly persecuting women, virtually walling them in. It is impossible even for them to laugh, sing, or express themselves publicly. We are dealing with this kind of regime, and I understand all the difficulties you have expressed. However, I believe that humanitarian aid – at least that – must be guaranteed, including support for our NGOs working there, and through these NGOs, Afghan women can work and train.
It is a small space that is still manageable. I believe that the fight against this form of true apartheid should be taken up forcefully and energetically by our Parliament and our Government as well. (Applause from members of the Green Alliance and Left group).
Text of the Question:
ZANELLA, GHIRRA, PICCOLOTTI, BONELLI, BORRELLI, DORI, FRATOIANNI, GRIMALDI, MARI, and ZARATTI. — To the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. — To ask – whereas:
With the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, the political-military situation in the country quickly deteriorated, leading to the return to power of the Taliban, a serious humanitarian crisis, and a system of oppression and institutional control over women;
Unfortunately, just as in the twenty years of war the West did not build any economic and financial autonomy for Afghanistan, so too has there been a crisis of interest from the international community towards the country in these past three and a half years;
Since the Taliban returned to power, women have been progressively erased from public spaces, deprived of their fundamental rights, and placed in a condition of violent oppression;
Women are prevented from any form of participation in social life, even access to the most basic services: no higher education, no work or sports, no public restrooms or walks in parks. They must be fully covered, cannot laugh, sing, or pray aloud. More recently, the decision to ban female doctors, nurses, and midwives, suspending the study programs of students preparing for these professions. A rule that adds to the ban for patients from being assisted by male medical staff. NGOs are not allowed to provide community-level education and must hand over their programs to local organizations;
On February 4, 2025, officials from the intelligence directorate raided the premises of Radio Begum, a radio station dedicated to female empowerment and education, founded on March 8, 2021, by Hamida Aman, ordering its closure;
On January 23, 2025, the office of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court requested the issuance of arrest warrants for the supreme leader of the Taliban Haibatullah Akhundzada and their head of justice, Abdul Hakim Haqqani, as they are deemed responsible for the crime against humanity of gender-based persecution;
For Afghan women, the prospect opened by the International Criminal Court represents a hope for recognizing the gravity of the situation: even if these warrants do not lead to arrest, they would still have the effect of damaging the political position of those responsible before global public opinion –:
What political and diplomatic initiatives do you intend to put in place to obtain international recognition of the crime of gender apartheid and to restore to Afghan women and girls the recognition of their fundamental human rights, protecting them from violence and submission.
(3-01780)
