Spain, France, Luxembourg, Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico have referred the case of women’s rights violations in Afghanistan to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

These six countries called on the ICC prosecutor on Thursday to investigate the ongoing and systematic violations of the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile announced on Thursday that due to the deteriorating conditions and the critical situation for women and girls in Afghanistan, the case has been referred to the ICC.

According to the report, the ICC prosecutor resumed investigations into Afghanistan in 2022, after they were paused in 2020 at the request of Afghan officials. This resumption emphasizes the urgency of addressing the ongoing human rights abuses in the country.

The six countries involved in the referral have specifically requested the ICC to focus on the situation of Afghan women and girls, who are facing constant and systematic violations of their rights. They have urged the prosecutor to consider the crimes committed against women and girls since the Islamic Emirate’s takeover in August 2021.

However, a number of neighboring countries have said that the international community should not issue orders to the current government of Afghanistan but interact with it.

In an interview with Al-Arabiya TV, Pakistan’s First Lady Aseefa Bhutto Zardari said that the international community should have faith in the Afghan government, and Pakistan, as a neighbor, can encourage the Islamic Emirate to address women’s problems and border issues.

IEA, meanwhile, has repeatedly rejected the violation of human rights, especially the rights of women and girls, and considered the concerns in this regard to be baseless.

IEA still considers the handling of citizens’ rights as an internal issue of Afghanistan and has asked countries and international organizations not to interfere in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.