The Diplomat: Undeniably, all communities in Afghanistan have suffered tremendously, but the Hazara minority has suffered disproportionately because of its distinct ethnic and religious identity. As an ethnoreligious minority, the Hazaras of Afghanistan have endured a long history of discrimination and systematic persecution. The Hazara community has suffered from enslavement, mass killings, and forced displacement throughout the modern history of Afghanistan. This suffering has continued into the present, aggravated alarmingly by the Taliban’s rise to power. The plight of the Hazara community is worsened by the Taliban’s incitement of sectarian violence against them. The regular public incitement of violence and persecution by the Taliban paves the ground for the perpetration and augmentation of more attacks. Top members of the Taliban government have labeled Shia Muslims, such as the Hazaras, as “infidels.” Click here to read more (external link).
IEA not yet recognized because of human rights violations: Russian FM
Lavrov
Ariana: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday Moscow has not yet recognized the Islamic Emirate government in Afghanistan due to its violation of commitments, especially of human rights. Speaking at a press conference at the UN, Lavrov said the IEA government consists of “all Taliban (IEA)” but does not include other ethnic and religious groups such as Hazaras, Tajiks, and Uzbeks. He emphasized that the IEA government should not only be about ethnic inclusivity but also political and religious inclusivity. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghanistan’s Collapse blamed on US ‘Deep State’: Amrullah Saleh
Amrullah Saleh
Khaama: Amrullah Saleh, former Vice President of Afghanistan, revealed information in an interview with the Russian newspaper “Nizavisimaya” published on Monday, January 22nd, regarding the views of American officials on Afghanistan and the meetings they had with senior American officials before the collapse of the Ghani government. Amrullah Saleh stated that the republican system in Afghanistan did not collapse overnight but rather began to unravel in the spring of 2011, following the death of Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Pakistan. This gradual process was initiated through an agreement between the United States and the Taliban in February 2020 in Doha, lasting for ten years. Saleh believes that the Afghan government’s biggest mistake was trusting the United States and not prioritizing the peace process, leading to the exploitation of government weaknesses and a lack of regional allies. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – January 24, 2024
Former US Forces Translator Brutally Tortured to Death by Taliban in Kunar Province
8am: Local sources in Kunar have reported the distressing demise of a former translator for the American forces in Afghanistan, who succumbed to brutal torture inflicted by the Taliban in the province. The lifeless body of the former translator was discovered one day after his detention in the Sarkan district, displaying evident signs of torture, according to the sources. However, specifics about the identity of the deceased and the duration of his service alongside American forces in Afghanistan remain elusive, as per the sources. Click here to read more (external link).
Related
Under The Taliban Rule: Transgender Individuals Treated as Sexual Slaves
Taliban militants dancing (file photo)
8am: Some transgender individuals are currently missing, while others remain in hiding. Bitter and shocking stories of Taliban fighters’ behavior are shared by some transgender and lesbian individuals. According to their accounts, aside from humiliating treatment, the Taliban regard them as sexual slaves. Everyone interviewed in this report has experienced Taliban detention and torture, with transgender individuals alleging collective sexual assault when detained by the Taliban. Multiple transgender individuals in this interview have confirmed that they have been subjected to sexual assault by the Taliban. They claim that when confronted by the Taliban, the fighters of this group immediately demand sexual relations. One of these transgender individuals alleges, “When the Taliban captured me, one of them approached and said, ‘Satisfy our desires; we are not married.’ Someone who has been assaulted numerous times is not afraid of assault anymore, but the Taliban’s assaults are more brutal than others, and after the assault, they throw chili powder or insert other objects into the rectum.” Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – January 23, 2024
Pakistan Reopens Key Border Crossing With Afghanistan
Torkham border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan
By RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal
January 23, 2024
Pakistan on January 23 reopened the Torkham border crossing with Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, a critical access route for trade and transportation between the two countries, after a 10-day closure prompted by Islamabad’s imposing of a requirement for passports and visas for Afghan drivers.
A Pakistani customs official in Torkham told RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal on condition of anonymity that the border was reopened at 10 a.m. local time, allowing the flow of trucks and people once again.
The move came after a meeting between Pakistani and Taliban officials on January 22 in Torkham during which the two sides agreed to reopen the crossing, the official said.
The Torkham border crossing links Pakistan’s western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province to Nangarhar, an eastern Afghan province, through the historic Khyber Pass.
The Torkham closure on January 12 caused huge commercial losses to both countries, blocking the entry of hundreds of trucks carrying tens of tons of oranges and tangerines, according to Afghan trade officials.
lslamabad’s move to impose tighter controls requiring drivers from both sides to have visas and passports — documents many Afghans do not have — came amid a deterioration of relations between the two neighbors, with Pakistan accusing the Taliban of allowing militants to stage attacks across the border from Afghan territory.
Since October, Pakistan has expelled more than a half-million undocumented Afghans over the Taliban’s failure to rein in the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban.
Islamabad blames the group for escalating attacks on security forces and accuses the Taliban government of sheltering TTP militants.
Officials say TTP attacks have killed more than 2,000 Pakistanis since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.
Pakistan says that more than 1.7 million undocumented Afghans reside on its territory.
With reporting by AFP
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.
Afghan nationals top the list of asylum seekers in France in 2023
Khaama: The Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons in France (OFPRA) has announced that Afghans, with 17,500 requests, were the largest group of asylum seekers in the country in 2023. This agency stated that in total, 142,500 people requested asylum in France last year. OFPRA released the first asylum data for the previous calendar year on Tuesday, January 23rd. According to this agency, Afghans have been the top asylum seekers for the sixth consecutive year. Click here to read more (external link).
Other Refugee News
Afghan Journalist Detained In Taliban’s Continued Crackdown On Independent Media
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
January 22, 2024
The Taliban has detained another Afghan journalist in the country’s capital, Kabul, in a continuing crackdown on independent media in Afghanistan.
Media watchdog the Afghanistan Journalist Center (AFJC) said Taliban intelligence officers detained Ehsan Akbari, an Afghan reporter for Japan’s Kyodo news agency.
“The arrest of this journalist shows that the ruling group is trying to suppress the media and freedom of expression,” Samia Walizadeh, the head of the communications and litigation at AFJC, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi on January 22.
The organization says the arrest violates the country’s media law that was crafted by the previous, pro-Western Afghan republic.
After returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban suspended Afghanistan’s constitution and most of the laws adopted over the two decades the militants were out of power. The hard-line Islamist group has issued a vague guideline for journalists, which requires them not to violate Afghan and Islamic values, since it came back to rule.
“We demand his immediate and unconditional release,” the AFJC added in a statement.
The organization has demanded that the Taliban, and in particular its intelligence agency, “should respect the country’s media law and end the process of suppressing journalists and free media.”
Sayed Amir Akbari, a brother of the detained journalist, said that Ehsan Akbari was detained in the government’s media and information center on January 17 after he was called there for questioning.
“The next morning, the Taliban intelligence officers took Ehsan Akbari to the news agency’s office [in Kabul] and took away his laptop and camera,” he told the AFJC.
He added that the militants forced him to call his family to hand over his mobile phone to Taliban officials when they arrived.
As per the Taliban’s practice, the group has neither confirmed nor denied his arrest.
The detention of journalists has started to become more commonplace in Afghanistan.
On January 18, the Taliban detained journalists Jawad Rasouli and Abdul Haq Hamidi. Both worked for a local news agency, Gardesh-e Etilat.
They were released on January 20 after their families handed over an affidavit, which typically guarantees that they would not violate Taliban rules.
The AFJC said the Taliban arrested 61 journalists in 2023. While most were released after weeks or months of detentions, some were sentenced to lengthy prison terms.
Overall, the AFJC documented 168 cases of violence and intimidation against journalists during the past year, highlighting the extensive censorship the authoritarian rulers are exercising over the media.