UN rights chief urges Taliban to drop restrictions on women

BERLIN (AP) — The United Nations’ human rights chief has decried increasing restrictions on women’s rights in Afghanistan, urging the country’s Taliban rulers to reverse them immediately. He pointed Tuesday to “terrible consequences” of a decision to bar women from working for non-governmental organizations. Last week, Taliban authorities stopped university education for women, sparking international outrage and demonstrations in Afghan cities. On Saturday, they announced the exclusion of women from NGO work, a move that already has prompted four major international aid agencies to suspend operations in Afghanistan. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said “no country can develop — indeed survive — socially and economically with half its population excluded.”