Massoud
Afghanistan International: Tim Burchett, a pro-Trump representative in the US Congress, told Afghanistan International that he had invited Ahmad Massoud, the leader of the National Resistance Front (NRF), to visit Washington and discuss Afghanistan. “I also invite the leaders of other groups opposed to the Taliban,” he added. Burchett had previously invited Amrullah Saleh, the former Vice President of Afghanistan, to Washington. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: Over the past three years, the Taliban’s restrictive policies on women have significantly disrupted Afghanistan’s healthcare system. These policies include bans on medical education and training for women, restrictions on women entering specialized medical programs, replacing doctors with clerics in healthcare management, prohibiting simultaneous visits of men and women to hospitals in some provinces, and barring female doctors and healthcare workers from attending health centers without a male guardian. These measures have exacerbated the healthcare crisis. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghanistan International: The Taliban in Kabul has banned the broadcast of music in the media. The Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice announced on Thursday that the ministry’s ombudsman met with media representatives in Kabul and asked them to refrain from broadcasting music. Previously, the Taliban had banned media outlets from broadcasting music in other provinces. Click here to read more (external link).
Mohammad Nabi
Amu: Mohammad Nabi, one of cricket’s leading all-rounders, has become the first Afghan player to reach the milestone of 300 international matches. The 39-year-old, who has been a cornerstone of Afghanistan’s cricket journey, achieved this feat on Wednesday during the first match of a T20 series against Zimbabwe. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghanistan International: Taliban members set fire to a man in Khyber District, Faryab province, on charges of being a member of the National Resistance Front (NRF) of Afghanistan. In a video provided to Afghanistan International, Taliban gunmen can be seen gathering around the man’s body. Sources confirmed to Afghanistan International that Taliban fighters set fire to a man in the village of Jawdana in the newly-established Khyber district of Faryab province on Saturday night. Click here to read more (external link).
Other Human Rights News
Amrullah Saleh
8am: In an unexpected move, Tim Burchett, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, has invited Amrullah Saleh, the former first vice president of Afghanistan under Ashraf Ghani’s administration, to visit Washington. This invitation has caused a stir in Afghan media. Burchett stated that he extended the invitation to discuss Afghanistan and its people with Saleh. He also emphasized that the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan poses a threat to the United States. Previously, Burchett had also expressed support for what is known as the Vienna Process, led by anti-Taliban forces. Although this process has so far managed to hold four meetings, it has not made any significant progress. Burchett’s invitation can be seen as part of a pattern, given that Michael McCaul, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, had earlier invited Ahmad Massoud, the leader of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan. That invitation was not declined but resulted in the dispatch of a delegation and a low-profile meeting that did not garner much attention. Click here to read more (external link).
Khalil Haqqani
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
December 11, 2024
Khalil Haqqani, the refugee minister in Afghanistan’s Taliban-led administration, has been killed in an explosion in the capital, Kabul, two sources from inside the government told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi on December 11.
The sources said the blast, which occurred inside the ministry’s compound, killed others as well, though no details were given.
Haqqani, the uncle of the Taliban’s acting interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is the first senior cabinet member to be killed in an explosion since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as international forces withdrew from the war-torn country.
The United States designated Khalil Haqqani as a global terrorist on February 9, 2011 and had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.
Related
Roza Otunbaeva
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
December 10, 2024
Islamabad — The United Nations reported Tuesday that women and girls are bearing the brunt of a persistent “dangerous erosion” of human rights in Afghanistan, attributing the crisis to an “intentional failure” of the country’s radical Taliban leaders.
“With authority comes responsibility,” said Roza Otunbayeva, the head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, referencing the August 2021 return of the formerly insurgent Taliban to power. “The claim of the de facto authorities to be legitimate representatives of the Afghan people within the United Nations must be accompanied by genuine efforts to uphold and advance our shared norms and values,” she stated.
The UNAMA statement, released in connection with International Human Rights Day, asserted that the human rights record of the Taliban had been particularly marked by their “systematic discrimination” against Afghan women and girls.
The Taliban government, which is not yet formally recognized by any country, has barred Afghan women from almost all aspects of every day and public life. Girls are banned from receiving education beyond the sixth grade, and most workplaces are not allowed to employ female staff except for a few sectors, such as health, police, and immigration. Women cannot undertake road or air trips unless accompanied by a male guardian.
The restrictions stem from dozens of decrees the reclusive Taliban supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has issued over the last three years based on his strict interpretation of Islamic law, known as Sharia.
Tuesday’s statement reminded the Taliban that Afghanistan endorsed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the U.N. General Assembly, on December 10, 1948.
“If Afghans, in particular women and girls, continue to be denied their rights, this constitutes a clear and intentional failure to protect and be responsible for the well-being of all who live in Afghanistan,” said Fiona Frazer, the country representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Taliban leaders have ignored repeated U.N.-led international calls for them to reverse their sweeping curbs on women, saying their governance is in line with Sharia.
The U.N. has repeatedly declined requests from the de facto Afghan authorities to represent the country due to their restrictions on women.
Earlier this month, Afghan public health ministry authorities abruptly ordered medical institutions to stop enrolling female students nationwide, citing a new edict released by Akhundzada. The move has effectively closed one of the last available avenues for girls to seek higher education.
The edict has drawn a global backlash and calls for its immediate reversal amid warnings it would leave millions of women without female nurses and midwives in a country where the Taliban have barred male doctors from treating female patients.
The U.N. has warned the latest ban would exacerbate a deepening humanitarian crisis and health challenges facing poverty-stricken Afghanistan, reeling from years of war and natural disasters.