News Center- A group of Spanish women activists has launched a petition urging the International Criminal Court (ICC) to classify the Taliban’s oppression of women and girls as a crime against humanity.

MPs, professors, lawyers and women working for international organizations are among the signatories of the petition. The petition collected 1,000 signatures in just one day.

“As women from different fields and professions all around the world, who have a voice, we are shocked and want to raise our voice to support the women and girls in Afghanistan,” the petition reads. “They are under a regime of repression that violates their most basic human rights, in which they suffer oppression, violence, repression, harassment, and constant humiliation.”

The Taliban’s oppression of women clearly constitutes a crime against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute and should be recognized as gender apartheid, as requested by the UN Rapporteur, the petition added. Spanish women activists urged the International Criminal Court to classify the Taliban’s oppression of Afghan women as a crime against humanity and hold those responsible accountable. They also called on the Spanish government and the international community “to take action to prevent further violations of women’s rights in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.”