Fearing Taliban Crackdown, Afghan Musicians Are Already Falling Silent

·

Habibullah Shabab found his calling as a singer — but since the Taliban’s return to power, he’s given up performing and instead makes a living as a shopkeeper. The Taliban has not yet imposed a ban on music as it did in the 1990s, but Shabab and others fear such a policy is imminent, stripping many musicians of their livelihoods.

Dozens of Ethnic Kazakhs Brought To Kazakhstan From Kabul On Late-Night Flight

·

By RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service
September 10, 2021

NUR-SULTAN — Kazakhstan says it has evacuated a group of ethnic-Kazakh Afghan nationals from Kabul to the Central Asian nation as countries continue to try and move people out of the war-torn country following the Taliban’s seizure of power.

The Kazakh Foreign Ministry said a military cargo plane landed late on September 9 at the Almaty airport with 35 ethnic-Kazakh Afghans on board.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Aibek Smadiyarov told RFE/RL that the plane also brought from Kabul four Kazakh citizens, one Kyrgyz national, and one Afghan citizen who holds a Kazakh permanent residence permit.

Last month, Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev ordered the government to organize the evacuation of ethnic-Kazakh Afghan nationals from Kabul.

Since Taliban militants took control of almost all of Afghanistan last month, many Afghans have urged Kazakh authorities to take them to Kazakhstan, claiming to be ethnic Kazakhs.

Earlier in August, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said a special commission had been established at the Kazakh consulate in Kabul to look into each request by someone claiming to be ethnic Kazakh.

According to Kazakh officials, there are about 200 ethnic-Kazakh Afghans in Afghanistan. But ethnic Kazakhs who immigrated to Kazakhstan from Afghanistan through a special state program to attract ethnic Kazakhs from abroad launched after the Central Asian nation gained independence in 1991, told RFE/RL that the number of ethnic-Kazakh Afghan citizens still in Afghanistan is much higher.

Kazakhs in Afghanistan are mostly relatives of Kazakhs who fled the Soviets in the 1920-1930s. Many of them speak Dari and/or Uzbek.

Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

UN Rights Office Condemns Violent Taliban Crackdown on Peaceful Protesters

·

Protest against Taliban

Lisa Schlein
VOA News
September 10, 2021

GENEVA – The U.N. human rights office has condemned the Taliban’s violent crackdown on peaceful protests in Afghanistan, where women in particular are trying to uphold their rights in the face of the Taliban’s restrictions on women’s place in society.

Despite the risks, Afghan women and men have taken to the streets in defense of their human rights. U.N. monitors say women have been pressing for their right to work, to freedom of movement, to education and to exercise their right to participate in public affairs.

U.N. human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani says the protests which are protected under international human rights law, have been met with a severe response by the Taliban.

“We have seen the use of live ammunition, albeit there are reports that they are firing into the air in an apparent attempt to disperse the protesters. Protesters have still been killed. There have been reports of severe beatings as well, and we have also received reports of house-to-house search operations to try to identify those who attended certain protests,” Shamdasani said.

This week, the Taliban reportedly banned so-called unauthorized assemblies and ordered telecommunications companies to switch off internet service on mobile phones in specific areas of the capital, Kabul.

Shamdasani said her office has received credible reports of women’s rights activists and journalists covering protests in the country being arbitrarily arrested and savagely beaten. She said four deaths have been confirmed, although that number is likely to be higher.

“The Taliban are currently in control of Afghanistan, and we are calling on them to abide by the obligations under international human rights law that Afghanistan is bound by. It is very crucial that they do not resort to the use of force. It is in no one’s interest really to see this kind of bloodshed on the streets. It is not going to help to consolidate or stabilize society,” Shamdasani said.

What would help, she said, is an inclusive approach in which the Taliban rulers listen to the grievances of the people. She urged the Taliban to allow the Afghan people to exercise their right of freedom of assembly and to demonstrate peacefully out on the streets.

Related

Nabi to captain T20 World Cup team after Rashid Khan steps down

·

Khan (left) and Nabi (right)

Ariana: Mohammad Nabi said he has been named Afghanistan skipper for the upcoming T20 World Cup after Rashid Khan unexpectedly stepped down as captain on Thursday. Rashid issued a statement on Twitter Thursday announcing his decision which he said was in protest against the selection of the national squad that was done without his input. Click here to read more (external link).

Taliban: Women cannot be Ministers in the government

·

In comparison

Afghan dad trying to sell daughter to keep family from starving

·

New York Post: A desperate Afghan dad has said he is prepared to sell his daughter for just $580 so he can save the rest of his family of seven from starvation — and give the 4-year-old a chance at a better life. Ex-cop Mir Nazir told the Times of London he is already in negotiations to pawn his youngest child as his family struggles to survive after the country’s economy collapsed following the takeover by the Taliban. Click here to read more (external link).