8am: Local sources in Ghazni province have reported that Taliban fighters subjected several residents of Nawur district to “horrific” torture. According to these sources, the Taliban fighters subjected a local doctor to extreme torture, leaving him in a “critical condition.” Presently, dozens of families have abandoned their homes and sought refuge in the mountains due to fear of the Taliban. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – September 30, 2023
Acting Higher Education Minister: Men And Women ‘Not Equal’
Nadeem
Tolo News: “The Almighty Allah has distinguished between men and women. A male is the ruler, he has the authority, he must be obeyed, and the woman must accept his world. A woman is not equal to a man; however, they [Western nations] have placed her above a man,” said Nadim. Click here to read more (external link).
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Appointment of Ambassador Signals China’s Ambition in Afghanistan, Experts Say
VOA News
September 29, 2023
WASHINGTON — Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi attended talks Friday in the Russian city of Kazan, where he praised China for sending a new ambassador to Afghanistan and urged other countries to follow China’s example.
The newly appointed Chinese ambassador to Kabul signals China’s continued interest in Afghanistan, analysts say.
The Taliban’s deputy prime minister, Abdul Salam Hanafi, said the new development “will play an effective role in strengthening the relations between Afghanistan and China.”
During a meeting in Kabul last week, Hanafi and Chinese Ambassador Zhao Xing “exchanged views on enhancing bilateral relations and expanding practical cooperation,” stated the website of the Chinese Embassy in Afghanistan.
China’s ambassador is the first of any country to be appointed in this role since the Taliban takeover in 2021.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the appointment was “the normal rotation of China’s ambassador to Afghanistan” and Chinese policy is “clear and consistent.”
However, experts say the move signals China’s expanding influence in Afghanistan and the region.
By sending an ambassador to Afghanistan, China aims to “maintain and expand its influence” in the region, said Claire Chao, an analyst at The Asia Group. “China sees its long-term security and economic goals in Afghanistan hinge on security and stability in Afghanistan.”
Chao told VOA that China “knows that it needs to take a more active role to secure its interests,” though Beijing “will be careful about its economic involvement and security commitment in Afghanistan.”
China is one of the few countries that handed over the Afghan Embassy on its soil to the Taliban after the former government in Afghanistan collapsed in 2021.
China also kept open its embassy in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, but it has not yet recognized the group’s de facto government. No country has formally recognized the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
China-Taliban relations
Officially, Beijing says it “hopes” that the Taliban will form an inclusive government, while it has called on the international community and regional countries for “coordination on the Afghan issue.”
A Chinese ambassador in Afghanistan “should not be seen as an immediate formal recognition of the Taliban government by China but rather indicates China’s intent to sustain diplomatic ties with the Taliban,” Chao said.
Considering it “a step towards recognition,” Afghan political analyst Haidar Adal, told VOA that the appointment at the ambassadorial level will not only help China expand its influence but also “boost” the Taliban’s position.
“It increases their [the Taliban’s] self-confidence, and they can now claim that ‘our relations have developed up to the level of ambassadors.’ They can say that their diplomacy is working.”
Human rights concerns
Adal added this “will make it more difficult for the international community to put pressure on the Taliban to respect the human rights, particularly women’s rights, in Afghanistan.”
“And those who suffer would be the people of Afghanistan, particularly,” he said.
The international community has called on the Taliban to honor their commitment to respecting women’s fundamental rights in Afghanistan before any talks about the recognition of their regime in Afghanistan.
Since coming to power in August 2021, the Taliban have imposed repressive measures on the women in the country. Women under the Taliban are not allowed to work, get secondary and university education or travel long distances without a close male relative.
Palwasha Hassan, a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security, told VOA that China’s move is concerning, but “does not surprise” her as “China’s priorities are not the human rights condition but security and economic considerations.”
“For China, security is more important. It wants the Taliban to curb militants who could cause problems in China,” said Hassan. “The economy is important too for China. These are the important issues, not human rights.”
China is concerned about the presence in China of Uyghur separatists “who are trying to fight for the independence of Xinjiang in China,” said Barnett Rubin, a former State Department official.
He added that Beijing engaged with the Taliban to “pressure them to hand [Uyghur militants] over to China,” but the Taliban “have moved them away from the Chinese border.”
Rubin told VOA that the Taliban have also kept their ties with other extremist organizations, including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which is accused of several deadly attacks on Chinese interests in Pakistan.
The Taliban, however, have said they will not allow any militant groups to use Afghanistan’s soil against any country.
Chinese investments
Although China prioritizes security, it agreed in May to expand the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan, a $60 billion connectivity project that is part of China’s globe-spanning Belt and Road Initiative.
Some Chinese companies have recently shown interest in investing in Afghanistan.
In July, officials of Fan China Afghan Mining Processing and Trading Company announced an investment of $350 million in various sectors.
Earlier in January, the Taliban signed a contract with Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Company to extract oil in the north of the country by investing $150 million annually.
A Chinese company, Metallurgical Corporation of China, which signed a contract with the then-Afghan government in 2008 to extract copper from the Mes Aynak mine in the Logar province, has met with Taliban officials in recent months on how to start the extraction of the mine.
But the work has not yet started.
Rubin said although the Taliban hope China will invest in larger projects, the conditions “for a huge investment simply do not exist in Afghanistan.”
“The expectation that they [China] would come in with big projects and do a lot, I think was much exaggerated,” Rubin said.
This story originated in VOA’s Afghan Service.
UN’s Afghan Mission Condemns Arrest Of Women’s Rights Activists By Taliban
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
September 29, 2023
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) called on the Taliban on September 29 to cease “arbitrary arrests and detentions” as it highlighted the recent apprehension of two women’s rights activists in Kabul.
The UNAMA said in a statement that Neda Parwani and Zholya Parsi had been detained for the past 10 days and expressed deep concern over the arrests and detentions of other individuals for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and opinion.
The statement emphasized that such actions run counter to Afghanistan’s international human rights commitments. It also urged the country’s Taliban-led government to give them access to legal and medical aid.
“Ongoing arrests and detentions of individuals simply for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and opinion is deeply troubling and contrary to Afghanistan’s international human rights obligations,” UNAMA said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
There was no immediate response from Taliban authorities.
Since seizing power in August 2021 in the wake of the withdrawal of international troops, Afghanistan’s Taliban government has imposed a strict interpretation of Islamic law on the country that largely excludes women from education, employment outside the home, and public life.
In its statement, UNAMA also named three other people it said were in detention — journalist Mortaza Behbudi, education activist Matiullah Wesa, and university professor Rasul Parsi.
“UNAMA calls for the de facto authorities to cease arbitrary arrests and detentions and to ensure that all those detained are afforded access to family, lawyers and medical care and have their rights to a fair trial upheld,” the mission said.
At the same time, Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan, said he was “seriously alarmed” by the detention of Parsi and Parwana and requested their immediate and unconditional release.
Meanwhile, Afghan women in Islamabad, Pakistan, protested the arrest of members of civil society in Afghanistan, citing the detention of Parsi and Parwani in particular.
A recording of the protest during which participants demanded their unconditional release was sent to RFE/RL Radio Azadi by a prominent women’s rights activist.
With reporting by AFP
Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
No current talks with Taliban, Afghanistan’s Massoud says, promising guerrilla warfare
Massoud
Reuters: Speaking in an interview in Paris, Massoud, the exiled leader of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), said that the only way for the Taliban to achieve legitimacy would be to hold elections, but there was no prospect of that happening for now. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – September 29, 2023
Afghanistan’s Embassy in India to remain operational, sources confirm
Khaama: Sources have assured Khaama Press News Agency on Friday that Afghanistan’s Embassy in New Delhi will continue its operations beyond September 2023. This commitment aims to support Afghan citizens and students residing in India. The sources, who spoke anonymously, confirmed the Embassy’s determination to serve the Afghan community in India. On the other hand, most Afghan citizens rushed to Afghanistan’s Embassy in New Delhi to extend their passports and documents. Click here to read more (external link).
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Afghanistan-South Africa Cricket World Cup warm-up game washed out
Ariana: Afghanistan’s Cricket World Cup warm-up game against South Africa was washed out Friday because of heavy rain. Both teams were confined to their hotels before umpires called off the game at 3:45 p.m. because of steady rain and a wet outfield, the Associated Press reported. Click here to read more (external link).
Taliban Undertake Speedy Overhaul of Afghanistan’s Justice System
Akmal Dawi
VOA News
September 28, 2023
In cities and villages across Afghanistan, men with no formal legal training but with membership in the Taliban and a rudimentary grasp of 8th-century Islamic jurisprudence wield unprecedented power over the fate of defendants and the resolution of civil disputes.
Under this summary judicial system, most cases are resolved swiftly, often receiving a verdict on the very first appearance before a tribunal. Plaintiffs and defendants make brief presentations, and a judgment is rendered.
Even in the most serious criminal cases, the absence of prosecutors investigating and presenting the facts to a jury or court means that thorough judgments are a rarity.
The Taliban dismantled Afghanistan’s attorney-general office in 2021, deeming it an unnecessary bureaucratic appendage that fostered corruption and inefficiency.
Under the new system, every aspect — from assigning cases to charging and sentencing — must be carried out in the presence of a judge without the involvement of public prosecutors, according to Abdul Malik Haqqani, the Taliban’s deputy chief justice.
“A judge cannot base his decision on a prosecutor’s investigations. This is our Sharia principles,” Haqqani told a local television channel this week.
Farid Hamidi, Afghanistan’s former attorney-general who now lives in the United States, described the dissolution of the attorney-general’s office as a mortal blow to justice in the country.
“A prosecutor’s only job is to help judges have all the facts before issuing a verdict on a case,” Hamidi told VOA. “This is a widely accept principle all over the world, which aims to ensure only justice is served.”
When the Taliban seized power in 2021, they not only dismantled the attorney-general’s office but persecuted former prosecutors who had previously built criminal cases against thousands of Taliban insurgents.
Thousands of prisoners the Taliban set free from jails across Afghanistan in 2021 have sought to carry out reprisals against prosecutors and judges resulting in the killings of more than a dozen former prosecutors, the U.N. human rights body reported in January.
Speed
What sets the Taliban’s justice system apart is its speed.
Unburdened by bureaucratic red tape, Taliban judges have resolved more than 200,000 cases in the past two years, including thousands that had been backlogged in the previous government’s judiciary.
However, critics argue that expeditious verdicts should not come at the cost of true justice.
“They are sacrificing justice for speed,” said Hamidi.
Afghans, who often complained about the sluggishness and bureaucracy of the former government’s courts, have praised the Taliban’s swift justice.
“Sometimes justice delayed is justice denied and sometimes it is most important to move incrementally and achieve a result based on better information,” Neal Davins, a professor of law at William & Mary Law School, told VOA.
The United Nations and human rights bodies have denounced the Taliban’s criminal justice system as brutally harsh.
While the Taliban defend public displays of corporal punishment as consistent with Islamic law, the U.N. deems them inhumane and violations of international conventions against torture.
The Taliban also claim effective enforcement of court orders, contrasting it with the reported shortcomings of the former Afghan government in implementing justice over powerful individuals.
In a bizarre event in November 2015, Khalilullah Ferozi, a banker sentenced to jail for financial crimes, walked out of his cell to sign a multi-million-dollar real estate contract with the Ministry of Urban Development.
In another widely reported incident in November 2016, a former vice president who was accused of detaining and sexually assaulting a tribal rival in Kabul brazenly bore no legal or penal responsibility.
Absolute monarchy
The Taliban have suspended Afghanistan’s constitution guaranteeing the political and administrative independence of the judiciary.
There is also no written document stipulating the appointment of judges, their authorities and judicial accountability.
“We are only accountable to our leader…matters related to authorities of Sultan and King are referred to our leader,” said Haqqani, the deputy chief justice.
There is no limit to powers of the mysterious Taliban leader.
That the judiciary is accountable only to the Sultan, according to Haqqani, is a testament to its independence from both internal and external interventions.
For decades, the Taliban fought the previous Afghan government, accusing it of being a puppet regime serving foreign interests.
While they claim total independence in the way they now govern Afghanistan, the Taliban have widely been reported as a proxy of the Pakistani military — accusations both Pakistan and the Taliban reject.
“The powers and limits of every public institution must be enshrined in a public document or a constitution. Without that the independence of judiciary has no actual meaning,” contended Hamidi.
The absence of written laws has left judicial verdicts open to varying interpretations of broad Islamic rules.
That legal ambiguity has led to serious human rights violations, such as the indefinite detention and torture of individuals without specified charges or the right to a court hearing.
The Taliban’s intelligence agency, for instance, has indefinitely detained and tortured individuals on charges not specified in any law without giving detainees a right to a court hearing, according to independent human rights organizations.
Matiullah Weesa, an activist for girls’ education, has been languishing in Taliban detention for about six months without charges.
Backed by the United States, the former Afghan government had a progressive constitution, which, although symbolic and marred by allegations of violations, sought to distribute power democratically with equal rights for all citizens, regardless of gender.
“A constitution is only as good as the people who interpret/enforce it. It typically serves a useful purpose in constraining government and protecting individual rights — but only if it is treated with respect,” said Davins.
Like other parts of the Taliban’s government, women are excluded from work at the judiciary and there are not any female judges to address disputes among female plaintiffs and defendants.
Called the world’s only gender-apartheid regime, the Taliban definitely claim they have given Afghanistan a better justice system than the one built with large international support.