Persons with Disabilities in Afghanistan Under the Taliban Regime (2021–2024): A Legal Inquiry into International Human Rights Obligations

Abstract

This study involves a critical analysis of the marginalization of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Afghanistan within the Taliban regime that lasted between 2021 and 2024, including their exclusion from employment and economic livelihoods. Based on empirical reports and utilizing Conflict Theory and Non-Discrimination Theory as an analytical framework, the research highlights how the Taliban's system of governance strategically dismantled existing disability support systems, including employment schemes and stipends, in the country. The paper has brought to light the intentional disregard of the rights of PWDs, especially PWD women, by the power structure to participate in the socio-economic life, which is in contrast to the provisions that Afghanistan made in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The research engages in a joint approach of doctrinal legal analysis and qualitative data to prove that the policies of the Taliban not only sustain structural inequality, but they also constitute instances of outright violation of international law on human rights. The study makes the final recommendations of international monitoring, legal responsibility, and specific humanitarian actions in securing and advancing the economic rights of Afghan PWDs.