Polio Inoculation Campaign Kicks Off In 21 Afghan Provinces

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Child getting polio drops (file photo)

By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
February 26, 2024

An extensive polio vaccination campaign started on February 26 in 21 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, the country’s Health Ministry said. The Taliban-controlled ministry’s spokesman, Sharaf Zaman, said the four-day-long campaign aims to inoculate 7.6 million children under the age of five. Zaman asked local religious leaders to cooperate with the inoculation teams. Some parents in the northwest refuse to allow their children to be vaccinated against polio, an infectious disease that can cause paralysis and lead to death. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio has not been completely eradicated.

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Woman imprisoned by brother for 25 years dies just five months after rescue

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Ariana: A woman who was imprisoned in a dark room for 25 years in Kabul died on Monday, just five months after being rescued by police. The woman, Nikbakht, had been held by her brother in appalling conditions but was rescued after neighbors in district 10 tipped off the authorities about her plight in September last year. After being rescued, she was hospitalized and treated for malnutrition and anemia. Click here to read more (external link).

Gurbaz included in Afghanistan’s squad for one-off test against Ireland

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Ariana: Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) on Monday announced the nation’s squad for the one-off test match against Ireland that is scheduled to be played from February 28 to March 3 at the Tolerance Oval in Abu Dhabi. Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been added to the test squad and is expected to be a potential debutant for Afghanistan against Ireland. In addition, a right-arm leg-spinner, Khalil Gurbaz, is expected to provide his leg-break bowling services. Click here to read more (external link).

Taliban Execute Convicted Killer in Afghan Sports Stadium

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
February 26, 2024

ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s Taliban Monday carried out another public execution of a man charged with murder, defying international calls to stop the “inhuman” punishments. It was the third public execution within a week.

The Taliban Supreme Court said in an announcement that the execution had taken place in a sports stadium in Sheberghan, the capital of the northern Afghan province of Jowzjan. It said that government and judicial officials, as well as residents, were among the spectators.

The executed person was found guilty of stabbing to death a young man in 2022. The statement said he was tried in three Islamic courts and subsequent appellate tribunals before the judicial “order of retaliation was issued and approved” in line with Islamic law of Sharia.

The punishment was enforced after the Taliban supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, examined the ruling and endorsed it, the court said.

Last Thursday, the fundamentalist authorities carried out a double public execution at a football stadium in the southeast city of Ghazni, saying both men had been convicted of murder in separate cases.

That announcement outraged the United Nations and global human rights groups. They denounced the executions as against international law and called for ending them immediately,

“We oppose all executions as a violation of the right to life,” Amnesty International said in a statement in response to the double execution. It added that the protection of the right to a fair trial “remains seriously concerning” under the Taliban rule.

“It’s high time that the international community and the U.N. up the pressure on the blatant human rights violations by the Taliban and help ensure that international safeguards are respected in Afghanistan,” said Livia Saccardi, Amnesty International’s interim deputy regional director for South Asia.

The Taliban have executed five convicted murderers and flogged several hundred others, including women, in sports stadiums since regaining power in August 2021 and imposing their harsh interpretation of Islamic law on Afghanistan.

The de facto Afghan rulers have rejected criticism of their policies, saying the criminal justice system and governance at large are based on Islamic rules and guidelines.

The Taliban have imposed sweeping restrictions on women’s rights to education and public life, barring female visitors from parks and gyms and forbidding girls from attending schools beyond the sixth grade.

The international community has rejected the Taliban’s calls for granting their administration formal recognition, citing their treatment of Afghan women and other human rights concerns.

Sexual Slavery by the Taliban: What Lies Beneath the Skin of the City?

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Taliban militants (file photo)

8am: On the first day, Faizullah sexually assaulted me. On that same day, several other Taliban militants came and assaulted too. I’ve been here for more than two months now. So far, over a hundred Taliban militants have sexually assaulted me and other women and girls. Most of them are Arabs, Pakistanis, and Chechens. There was a time when they talked about Afghan honor, dignity, and modesty, but today they disgrace their honor and dignity in front of foreigners and trample them underfoot. Click here to read more (external link).

Afghan Girls Banned From Contacting Media In Eastern Province

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By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
February 25, 2024

The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) has reported that Taliban police authorities in the eastern Khost Province have banned girls from contacting local radio and television channels and warned local media outlets not to accept phone calls from girls.

Regional security head Abdul Rashid Omari cited the potential for spreading immorality as the reason for giving the order in a letter he sent to the Taliban’s provincial Information and Culture department.

In the letter, published by the media watchdog AFJC’s website on February 25, Omari alleged that some private media outlets were spreading corruption by way of “illegitimate contacts” with girls through their social and educational programs.

The letter alleged that such contacts led to “inappropriate behavior” that was in violation of the hard-line Taliban’s strict interpretation of Islamic law.

It said that local media, some of which allegedly lacked the required permission to broadcast educational content, had been warned they could be summoned and prosecuted for violating the order.

Representatives of two media outlets in the province confirmed to RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi that they had received warnings but declined to reveal their identities or to have the names of their outlets published out of fear of retribution by the Taliban.

Taliban officials in Khost Province did not respond to requests by Radio Azadi for comment.

Educational and social programs have emerged as a crucial outlet following the Taliban’s banishment of education for girls past sixth grade.

AFJC communications head Samia Walizadeh told Radio Azadi that the order was in clear violation of media laws and the right for citizens to have free access to information and said the nongovernmental watchdog was demanding the order be rescinded so that “freedom of expression can be saved.”

One woman from Khost Province who spoke to Radio Azadi on condition that her voice be altered for her protection said prohibiting girls from contacting the media shows that “women are slowly being removed from society as a whole.”

According to the AFJC, which operates independently across Afghanistan under the country’s mass media law, 15 private radio stations and three private television outlets are broadcasting in Khost Province, along with National Radio and Television under the control of the Taliban.

In August, women’s voices were banned from being broadcast by media in the southern Helmand Province. That order warned that media outlets would face punishment and possibly be shut down if any women’s voices were broadcast on air, including advertisements.

The Taliban has used its interpretation of Shari’a law to justify its consistent degradation of women’s rights, including barring women from public spaces and education, and jailing women’s rights activists who dare protest.

Despite promises to allow press freedom after returning to power, the Taliban has also shut down independent radio stations, television studios, and newspapers. Some media outlets have closed after losing funding.

The Taliban-led government has banned some international broadcasters while some foreign correspondents have been denied visas.

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Restrictions on Women: Educational Centers in Ghazni Province Face Imminent Collapse

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8am: Some owners of private educational centers in Ghazni province assert that these centers teeter on the brink of collapse. They stress that stringent Taliban restrictions on women and girls have plunged these centers into severe economic hardship. According to them, the centers currently struggle to meet daily expenses, warning of imminent closure if swift action is not taken. Click here to read more (external link).

Stanikzai: Pakistan Did Not Exist When Durand Line Drawn

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Abbas Stanikzai

Tolo News: “The Durand Line is an imaginary line, and there is no issue between Pakistan and us in this respect. The issue is that the British at the time drew this line in accordance with an agreement they had made with Abdul Rahman Khan. Whatever Pakistani officials say about this is unacceptable because it is not related to them,” he said. Stanikzai further stated that when this line was created, there was no country named Pakistan on the world map. Click here to read more (external link).