Iran, Pakistan Pledge Commitment to Afghan Stability in Joint Statement

TOLOnews

The presidents of Iran and the prime minister of Pakistan have called the presence of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan a serious threat to regional and global security.

In a joint statement, the President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi and the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif also emphasized a peaceful and stable Afghanistan, stating that greater participation of all Afghan factions in fundamental decision-making would strengthen peace and stability in the country.

The statement was published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan at the end of the Iranian president’s three-day visit to Pakistan.

The joint statement said: “Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to the development of Afghanistan as a peaceful, united, sovereign and independent state, free from the threats of terrorism and drug trafficking. Noting that the existence of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan poses a serious threat to regional and global security, the two sides reaffirmed their willingness to enhance cooperation on counter-terrorism and security and to develop a united front against terrorism. The two sides also noted the relevance of coordinating regional and international efforts to ensure security and stability in the region, and emphasized the positive contribution of existing regional forums towards this end. While respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan, the two sides recognized that increasing participation of all strata of Afghans in basic decision-making will lead to the strengthening of peace and stability in this country.”

Although the Islamic Emirate has not yet commented on this matter, it has previously dismissed claims about the existence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan as baseless.

But what role do Iran and Pakistan play in ensuring security and stability in Afghanistan?

“Understanding between them and dialogue aimed at combating terrorism and bringing peace and stability to the region, especially assistance in this regard to Afghanistan, is in the interest of the region as well as the countries of Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan,” said Aziz Maarej, a former diplomat.

The early resumption of activities of the regional contact group and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation for coordination and efforts to maintain stability and develop economic relations in the region are other topics mentioned in this statement.

 

Iran, Pakistan Pledge Commitment to Afghan Stability in Joint Statement
read more

No longer a US priority, is Afghanistan a Central Asia problem now?

The Uzbek delegation, led by Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov, holds talks in Kabul with the Taliban leaders, March 12, 2024. (Uzbekistan MFA)
The Uzbek delegation, led by Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov, holds talks in Kabul with the Taliban leaders, March 12, 2024. (Uzbekistan MFA)
Afghanistan’s Central Asian neighbors are holding out hope that America, based on its pledges at September’s C5+1 summit, will expand its role in this neighborhood. The wish list includes delivering more humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, facilitating the expansion of trade, and combating the threats of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan.

Officials speaking with VOA suggest that more aid could be channeled into Afghanistan via Uzbekistan. Additionally, Washington could offer more military assistance to Central Asian states and tangibly support their regional connectivity initiatives.

While no country has formally announced diplomatic recognition of the Taliban government, Central Asian nations have been engaging with the Taliban based on mutual interests, such as security, trade, and water sharing. Uzbekistan, which has extensive political and economic ties with Kabul, has been urging the West and the larger international community not to isolate Afghanistan.

FILE - Special representatives on Afghanistan from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan discuss joint efforts to support the Afghan people, in Astana, July 27, 2023. (U.S. State Department)
FILE – Special representatives on Afghanistan from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan discuss joint efforts to support the Afghan people, in Astana, July 27, 2023. (U.S. State Department)

Nearly three years since the withdrawal of American forces, U.S. officials insist that they have not abandoned Afghanistan, pointing to ongoing efforts and consultations with Central Asian counterparts. However, they admit Washington’s priorities have shifted to other issues, such as Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“It will take the U.S. a decade or two to recover from the fact that we lost the war,” said David Sedney, a veteran diplomat and former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia. “It took us 20 years before we were able to engage in Vietnam in a productive way,” he told VOA.

US Eyes Closer Ties to Central Asia After New York Summit

Scott Worden, who heads the Afghanistan and Central Asia programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace, thinks that Central Asian governments overestimate Washington’s leverage.

“There are a lot of issues in the world that have to be addressed simultaneously,” he noted in an interview with VOA. “They [the U.S.] are balancing the leverage that they have against issues that are manageable and maybe achievable versus ones like women’s rights, which I think the administration cares strongly about.”

“It’s just a really tough situation,” Worden added. “In my view, you should not condition humanitarian assistance. Any economic sanctions wind up hurting the Afghans that we want to support. It’s a difficult balance, and so I don’t think there is any obvious additional tool or leverage that could be deployed that they’re withholding.”

FILE - U.S. officials meet with Kazakh professionals promoting women’s economic empowerment in Central Asia, including Afghanistan, July 27, 2023. (U.S. State Department)
FILE – U.S. officials meet with Kazakh professionals promoting women’s economic empowerment in Central Asia, including Afghanistan, July 27, 2023. (U.S. State Department)

Some Western nations including the United States, however, have filtered humanitarian aid programs through partner organizations that circumvent Taliban officials and deliver aid directly to Afghan civilians.

According to USAID, the U.S. supplied nearly $81 million in Afghan humanitarian aid in fiscal year 2024 and has supplied total funding for Afghanistan of “more than $2 billion since August 2021 … including more than $1.5 billion in [USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance] funding and nearly $550 million in [the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration] funding.”

“Provided through international partners on the ground,” says USAID, this assistance helps “meet the needs of the most vulnerable through food and cash support, nutrition, health care, protection for women and children, and agricultural inputs to support Afghans in meeting their immediate food needs.”

Uzbek Border Town Adjusts to the Taliban as Neighbors

Like Sedney, Worden suggests being realistic. “There is ample opportunity for the U.S. and other international partners to talk to the Taliban when they want to.”

“This is all part of a very difficult global conversation,” he said.

But for Frederick Starr, chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, known for advocating closer ties with the region, Afghanistan is “utterly ignored right now.”

Starr emphasizes that this country is critical for regional integration and stability, two goals the U.S. has long vowed to support.

Sedney observes that “not many people want to talk about Afghanistan,” not just in Washington but in other Western capitals as well.

Speaking last week at the American Foreign Policy Council, these experts stressed that America’s two decades of involvement in Afghanistan left it with an obligation to go beyond the status quo.

Starr approves of the steps Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have taken with Afghanistan, particularly regarding commerce, energy supply and water resources.

Presidents Shavkat Mirziyoyev, left, and Emomali Rahmon are seen after signing the Uzbekistan-Tajikistan Alliance Treaty and other strategic documents aiming to strengthen bilateral ties as well as cooperation on regional issues, Dushanbe, April 18, 2024. (president.uz)
Presidents Shavkat Mirziyoyev, left, and Emomali Rahmon are seen after signing the Uzbekistan-Tajikistan Alliance Treaty and other strategic documents aiming to strengthen bilateral ties as well as cooperation on regional issues, Dushanbe, April 18, 2024. (president.uz)

Other observers, however, warn about tensions between the Taliban and Tajikistan, which officially supports the National Resistance Front, an armed alliance of anti-Taliban forces that is loyal to the previous regime and carries out guerrilla attacks in Afghanistan. Dushanbe continues to host the previous government’s ambassador.

US Cast as Villain During Meeting of Afghan Neighbors

Worden identifies several key interests and objectives for Washington, most of which align with those of the region. The first and most important objective is counterterrorism, ensuring that Afghan territory is never again used to launch attacks on the U.S. or its allies.

Others include negotiations on American hostages; the evacuation of Afghans that the U.S. promised to help following its withdrawal; women’s rights and other human rights; humanitarian assistance; and economic development.

Perhaps the most abstract interest, according to Worden, “is trying to maintain an international diplomatic consensus on the broad conditions and expectations that we have for the Taliban, which include in the endgame a more inclusive society that is not a threat to itself and for its neighbors as well as these U.S. interests.”

“It’s remarkable that no country in the world has recognized the Taliban,” he said, adding, however, that he sees a divergence between Western-allied emphasis on human rights and women’s rights and the neighboring countries’ economic and security concerns.

In Worden’s view, the U.S. is pursuing a policy of “quiet engagement” on humanitarian assistance and counterterrorism. At the same time, there is a firm position of non-recognition and not wanting to legitimize the Taliban.

“Can this dualism sustain over time?” asked Worden, who also sees a cleavage developing, where countries in the region will over time increase engagement with those in power in Afghanistan to achieve their economic and security interests. “Not that they like the Taliban, but they feel like talking to them is better than not.”

Uzbekistan Seeks to Engage Taliban Without Alienating West

Regardless of who inhabits the White House next January, Worden doubts that U.S. attention toward Afghanistan will increase unless there is an “acute crisis.”

Republicans tend to “prefer coercion to engagement when you’re talking about regimes that we don’t have much in common with,” he said. “So yes, there is the wild card of potentially making a great deal, but I think the odds of support for armed opposition would increase.”

U.S.-based Afghan journalist Samy Mahdi, who runs Amu Television out of Virginia, points out that the Taliban enjoy close relations with America’s adversaries, such as Iran, Russia and China. He argues that U.S. assistance has brought about minimum results, and that the Taliban is as radical and dangerous as it was in the 1990s.

Mahdi recommends a full review of U.S. policy.

“More communication and transparency are needed on Afghanistan,” he said at the American Foreign Policy Council forum. “We don’t hear much from the U.S. administration about Afghanistan.”

No longer a US priority, is Afghanistan a Central Asia problem now?
read more

Family of American man believed to be held by Taliban asks the UN torture investigator for help

BY ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press
8:00 PM EDT, April 25, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for an American believed to be held by the Taliban for nearly two years are asking a United Nations human rights investigator to intervene, citing what they say is cruel and inhumane treatment.

Ryan Corbett was abducted Aug. 10, 2022, after returning to Afghanistan, where he and his family had been living at the time of the collapse of the U.S.-backed government there a year earlier. He arrived on a valid 12-month visa to pay and train staff as part of a business venture he led aimed at promoting Afghanistan’s private sector through consulting services and lending.

Corbett has since been shuttled between multiple prisons, though his lawyers say he has not been seen since last December by anyone other than the people with whom he was detained.

In a petition sent Thursday, lawyers for Corbett say that he’s been threatened with physical violence and torture and has been malnourished and deprived of medical care. He’s been held in solitary confinement, including in a basement cell with almost no sunlight and exercise, and his physical and mental health have significantly deteriorated, the lawyers say.

“During Mr. Corbett’s most recent call with his wife and children, Mr. Corbett indicated that the mental torture and anguish have caused him to lose all hope,” said the petition, signed by the Corbett family attorneys, Ryan Fayhee and Kate Gibson.

The petition is addressed to Alice Edwards, an independent human rights investigator and the special rapporteur for torture in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the U.N. It asks Edwards, who was appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council, to “urgently reach out to the Taliban to secure Mr. Corbett’s immediate release and freedom from torture, as guaranteed by international law.”

The U.S. government is separately working to get Corbett home and has designated him as wrongfully detained. A State Department spokesman told reporters last month that officials had continually pressed for Corbett’s release and were “using every lever we can to try to bring Ryan and these other wrongfully detained Americans home from Afghanistan.”

A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry in Afghanistan said this week that it had no knowledge of Corbett’s case.

Corbett, of Dansville, New York, first visited Afghanistan in 2006 and relocated there with his family in 2010, supervising several non-governmental organizations.

But after that first uneventful trip, he returned to the country in August 2022 to train and pay his staff and resume a business venture that involved consulting services, microfinance lending and evaluating international development projects.

While on a trip to the northern Jawzjan province, Corbett and a Western colleague were confronted by armed members of the Taliban and were taken first to a police station and later to an underground prison.

Anna Corbett said that when she learned her husband had been taken to a police station, she got “really scared” but that he was optimistic the situation would be quickly resolved.

“I feel like it’s the uncertainty of all of it that just is so difficult because you just don’t know what’s going to come at you — what call, what news,” she said. “And I’m worried about Ryan and the effect of the trauma on him and then also on my kids, just what they’re experiencing. I’ve tried to protect them the best I could, but this is so difficult.”

Associated Press writer Riazat Butt in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.

 

Family of American man believed to be held by Taliban asks the UN torture investigator for help
read more

Remembering the Fall of Afghanistan’s First Republic

On Saur 7, 1357 (solar calendar), following a coup by the People’s Democratic Party, the first republic regime in Afghanistan was overthrown.

Friday marks the 46th anniversary of the day the People’s Democratic Party assassinated Mohammad Daoud Khan, who had established the country’s first republic, along with 18 members of his family at the presidential palace, effectively toppling the first republic regime in the country.

The morning of Saur 7, 1357, began with the alarming sounds of cannons and gunfire.

46 years ago today, tanks and helicopters from the army stormed the presidential palace from both ground and air, marking the first coup against the first republic regime.

Sultan Mahmoud Telayie, a relative of Sardar Mohammad Daoud Khan, said: “A president who was trying to keep Afghanistan together, wearing a helmet, along with all his family members, was attacked at the presidential palace by the regime of the People’s Party and communists trained by the Russians, and at nine o’clock in the morning of Saur 7, 1357, all his family members were martyred.”

The coup on Saur 7, 1357 is regarded as a significant event in Afghanistan’s history and marked the beginning of years of conflict and rebellion in the country.

After the assassination of Sardar Mohammad Daoud Khan, Noor Mohammad Taraki, one of the leaders of the People’s Democratic Party, seized power and initiated another major political shift in Afghanistan.

This rebellion in 1358 led to the entry of the Soviet Red Army into Afghanistan, resulting in a decade-long war between the Mujahideen and the Soviets.

Tariq Farhadi, a political analyst, told TOLOnews: “Saur 7, 1357 (solar calendar) changed the course of Afghanistan; the communist coup led to the entry of the Soviet Union into Afghanistan and subsequently brought America into the Afghan internal wars.”

During these conflicts, which lasted nearly ten years, approximately two thousand military and civilian individuals in the country lost their lives, and millions more were forced to flee the country.

On April 28, 1991, the Mujahideen came to power after the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan, led by Dr. Najibullah, collapsed.

Remembering the Fall of Afghanistan’s First Republic
read more

Pakistan and Iran vow to enhance efforts at a ‘united front’ against Afghanistan-based militants

BY MUNIR AHMED
Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Neighbors Pakistan and Iran on Wednesday pledged to enhance efforts at a “united front” against Afghanistan-based militants, saying their presence poses a serious threat to regional and global security.

The countries, which share a long and porous border, made the commitment in a joint statement issued after a three-day visit by Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi to Islamabad.

The visit was aimed at mending ties that were strained in January when each carried out strikes in the other’s territory, targeting militants accused of attacking security forces.

The Iranian president met with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other officials, including powerful army chief Gen. Asim Munir.

The joint statement said the two sides “reaffirmed their willingness to enhance cooperation on counter-terrorism and security and to develop a united front against terrorism.”

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence in recent months, mostly blamed on Afghanistan-based Pakistani Taliban and insurgents who also target security forces in Iran.

Pakistan often says Pakistani Taliban have stepped up attacks since 2021 when the Afghan Taliban came to power. The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, is a separate group but allied with the Afghan Taliban.

However, Afghanistan’s Taliban government insists it does not allow the Pakistani Taliban — or any other militant group — to use Afghanistan’s soil to launch attacks against any other country. In March, the Pakistan Air Force targeted multiple suspected hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban inside Afghanistan. The Afghan Taliban said the attacks killed eight people and prompted return fire from their forces. Tehran has also blamed an Afghanistan-based Islamic State affiliate for recent attacks in Iran. The affiliate is also active in Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan bordering Iran.

In recent years, Pakistan has urged Tehran to take stern action against Pakistani insurgents living inside Iran near the border. They often target security forces in Baluchistan, the scene of low-level insurgency by separatists for more than two decades.

Pakistan and Iran also agreed that their common border should be the “border of peace and friendship,” and reiterated the importance of regular cooperation between political, military and security officials to combat other threats such as narcotics smuggling, human trafficking, hostage-taking and money-laundering.

The countries also agreed to expand trade and economic cooperation, pledging to set up new border markets, new border crossings and economic free trade zones.

The two sides also condemned the suspected Israeli strike on April 1 targeting a consular building next to the Iranian Embassy in Syria which killed two Guard generals and others. Iran responded with unprecedented direct strikes on Israel.

Authorities also said Pakistan and Iran also discussed how to go ahead with their gas pipeline project, which has been on hold mainly because of fears of U.S. sanctions. The project — opposed by Washington as a violation of sanctions imposed on Tehran over its nuclear program — launched in 2013 to supply Iranian natural gas to energy-starved Pakistan.

 

Pakistan and Iran vow to enhance efforts at a ‘united front’ against Afghanistan-based militants
read more

US State Dept pressures Taliban to revoke discriminatory decrees against Afghan women

The U.S. State Department asserts it’s pressuring the Taliban alongside allies and partners to rescind discriminatory laws against Afghan women and girls.

It states that any significant steps toward normalizing relations with the Taliban are contingent upon a profound change in their behaviour.

The State Department wrote in its annual report on the status of women in Afghanistan that the Taliban have effectively excluded women from the public sphere with their directives.

The report highlights widespread violations of women’s rights and sexual violence against them. In one section, it mentions that 16 women out of 90 imprisoned women in Jawzjan, Faryab, and Samangan became pregnant after being raped by Taliban members. According to the report, the Taliban have executed at least four women in Samangan after repeated assaults.

The U.S. State Department added that in response to the Taliban’s actions restricting women, in February 2023, it imposed restrictions on visa issuance for some current and former Taliban officials and individuals involved in suppressing and depriving Afghan women and girls of education and work opportunities in non-governmental organizations.

The department stated that on December 8th of last year, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on two Taliban members for their involvement in serious human rights violations, including restricting girls’ access to secondary education.

According to the department, Khalid Hanafi, the Taliban Minister of Virtue and Vice, was sanctioned for his involvement in serious human rights violations, including murder, kidnapping, lashing, and beating Afghan citizens, including women and girls.

The department mentioned that Mawlawi Faridudin Mahmood, the head of the Afghanistan Institute of Sciences, was sanctioned for his involvement in serious human rights violations related to regulating, publishing, and enforcing regulations to restrict access for all women and girls in Afghanistan solely based on their gender.

Khaama Press

24 April 2024

US State Dept pressures Taliban to revoke discriminatory decrees against Afghan women
read more

Iran, Pakistan Pledge Commitment to Afghan Stability in Joint Statement

The presidents of Iran and the prime minister of Pakistan have called the presence of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan a serious threat to regional and global security.

In a joint statement, the President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi and the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif also emphasized a peaceful and stable Afghanistan, stating that greater participation of all Afghan factions in fundamental decision-making would strengthen peace and stability in the country.

The statement was published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan at the end of the Iranian president’s three-day visit to Pakistan.

The joint statement said: “Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to the development of Afghanistan as a peaceful, united, sovereign and independent state, free from the threats of terrorism and drug trafficking. Noting that the existence of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan poses a serious threat to regional and global security, the two sides reaffirmed their willingness to enhance cooperation on counter-terrorism and security and to develop a united front against terrorism. The two sides also noted the relevance of coordinating regional and international efforts to ensure security and stability in the region, and emphasized the positive contribution of existing regional forums towards this end. While respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan, the two sides recognized that increasing participation of all strata of Afghans in basic decision-making will lead to the strengthening of peace and stability in this country.”

Although the Islamic Emirate has not yet commented on this matter, it has previously dismissed claims about the existence of terrorist groups in Afghanistan as baseless.

But what role do Iran and Pakistan play in ensuring security and stability in Afghanistan?

“Understanding between them and dialogue aimed at combating terrorism and bringing peace and stability to the region, especially assistance in this regard to Afghanistan, is in the interest of the region as well as the countries of Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan,” said Aziz Maarej, a former diplomat.

The early resumption of activities of the regional contact group and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation for coordination and efforts to maintain stability and develop economic relations in the region are other topics mentioned in this statement.

Iran, Pakistan Pledge Commitment to Afghan Stability in Joint Statement
read more

NEPA Criticizes Halt of Climate Change Projects

The National Environmental Protection Agency, in a joint press conference with the Norwegian Afghanistan Committee on Wednesday, criticized the suspension of 32 climate change projects in the country.

According to the deputy head of the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA), Zainul Abideen Abid, environmental projects were halted following the return of the Islamic Emirate, and the world should resume these projects.

Abid said that the groundwork for investment and work in the implementation sector of clean energy production projects has been laid and investment should be made in this sector.

“In the climate change sector, 32 projects funded by international organizations have been halted. Our request is that these projects be started and implemented as soon as possible,” the deputy head of the National Environmental Protection Agency told TOLOnews.

Meanwhile, Terje Watterdal, the Country Director of the Norwegian Afghanistan Committee, emphasized at this press conference the comprehensive cooperation of the international community with the people of Afghanistan through the agencies of the United Nations.

The head of the Norwegian Afghanistan Committee said that 80% of the Afghan population obtains their needs through agriculture, which is also affected by climate change.

The head of the Norwegian Afghanistan Committee added: “When we are talking about collective action, Afghan ministries, universities, industry and the Afghan people must act. But we in the international community must support Afghanistan in their efforts.”

The head of the Norwegian Afghanistan Committee also emphasized the need for widespread participation of governmental organizations and Afghan civil society at the 29th UN Climate Change Conference or COP 29, which will be held in November this year in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

NEPA Criticizes Halt of Climate Change Projects
read more

US State Dept releases report on extensive Human Rights violations in Afghanistan

The U.S. State Department has published its annual human rights report for 2023, which highlighted a notable decline in women’s rights. It pointed to new regulations limiting women’s access to education and jobs, leading to a situation where women became increasingly limited to domestic responsibilities.

The report highlighted a range of human rights issues, including killings, abuse, harsh prison conditions, unjust detentions, media and internet restrictions, and limits on political participation, corruption, and child recruitment.

The department emphasized that they do not recognize the Taliban as legitimate.

“This year’s report also captures human rights abuses against members of vulnerable communities. In Afghanistan, the Taliban have limited work opportunities for women, shuttered institutions found educating girls, and increasing floggings for women and men accused of, quote, ‘immoral behavior,’ end quote,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated.

In the report, the State Department criticized the Taliban’s authoritarianism, stating that they have declared a “so-called interim government consisting largely of Taliban fighters, mullahs, and close associates of the group, predominantly belonging to the Pashtun ethnicity.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated in a statement on Tuesday regarding this report that the Taliban has “effectively removed Afghan women from the public sphere” with its directives.

According to the report, the ban on education and employment for women has worsened their situation, and they are now confined to the four walls of their homes.

The U.S. State Department said that the Taliban has shown no flexibility in its policies and that the group’s orders are in contradiction with Afghanistan’s commitments and international conventions.

The State Department’s report mentions political imprisonments, poor prison conditions, killings, torture, arbitrary detentions, and the lack of judicial independence.

The report states that the Taliban has used children in armed conflicts.

The U.S. State Department has given a negative assessment of the media situation in Afghanistan. The report states that the Taliban imposes increasing restrictions on freedom of speech every day. Additionally, journalists face Taliban violence and arbitrary detentions.

Meanwhile, the Taliban has obstructed peaceful gatherings and imposed restrictions on internet usage.

The U.S. State Department has stated that religious freedoms in Afghanistan are limited, and violence against ethnic and religious minorities has occurred.

The annual report also highlights the Taliban’s widespread disregard for the rule of law and the impunity of human rights violators, as the group has failed to reduce domestic violence, sexual violence, early and forced marriages.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s spokesperson, responded to the report by emphasizing that Afghan people’s rights are defined by Islamic laws.

He stated that cultural and human rights norms in the West differ from those in Afghanistan, cautioning against imposing Western values on other nations.

US State Dept releases report on extensive Human Rights violations in Afghanistan
read more

OIC urges lift on Afghan women’s education, employment restrictions

The media center announced the meeting between Tariq Ali Bakheet, the special representative of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Mawlavi Abdul Kabir, the political deputy of the Taliban Prime Minister. They stated that Mr. Bakheet called for the lifting of educational and employment restrictions on women.

According to the report, Mr. Bakheet praised women’s achievements in the economic sector during the meeting and called for removing restrictions on women’s education and employment.

The special representative of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation further added that some Islamic countries have concerns about Afghanistan that need to be discussed closely with the Taliban administration. However, the government media centre has not been reminded about these concerns.

According to the media center’s report, the representative of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation emphasized the value of education for Islamic countries and stated that these countries are ready to cooperate in women’s education.

Taliban claim that their leadership’s decree regarding “protecting” girls, banning forced marriages of girls, and addressing their inheritance is being implemented.

He also mentioned that female teachers and government employees receive their salaries at home while working in government offices.

More than two years have passed since the closure of girls’ schools and the suspension of education for women in Afghanistan, yet there is no sign of reopening educational institutions.

It is worth mentioning that the global community’s important demands for more interaction with the current regime include the reopening of educational institutions and the allowing of women to work in government and non-governmental organizations.

OIC urges lift on Afghan women’s education, employment restrictions
read more