Afghan Taliban Says China Becomes First Nation to Accept Its Ambassador

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
December 1, 2023

ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s Taliban government announced Friday that China had formally accepted its ambassador to Beijing, hailing the move as an “important chapter” in growing ties between the two neighboring countries.

The announcement, yet to be confirmed by China, would make it the first nation to host a Taliban ambassador since the Islamist group regained power from an American-backed government in Kabul two years ago.

Neither China nor any other country has formally given recognition to the de facto Afghan administration.

An official Taliban foreign ministry statement said that Hong Lei, the director-general of the protocol department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, accepted the copy of credentials from the newly appointed ambassador, Asadullah Bilal Karimi.

Hong called Karimi’s arrival an “important step in further strengthening and expanding the positive relations” between Beijing and Kabul.

“China respects the national sovereignty and the decisions of the people of Afghanistan. It does not interfere in the internal Afghan affairs, nor has it done so in the past,” Hong said in Friday’s meeting, according to the Taliban.

Karimi assured the Chinese side that “there is no threat to anyone from the territory of Afghanistan, and regional stability and security is in the interest of all.”

The new ambassador, in his early 30s, served as the deputy spokesman at the Taliban-led information ministry until recently.

Beijing has sought to sustain its close engagement with the Taliban to help prevent the conflict-torn South Asian nation from plunging into chaos again, which could encourage anti-China militants to use Afghan soil to threaten Chinese security.

The Chinese government invited Taliban delegates to its global Belt and Road Forum in October this year, marking the first high-profile multilateral gathering de facto Afghan rulers have attended since returning to power.

Last September, China became the first nation to appoint an ambassador to Kabul under Taliban rule. Other countries either retained their previous ambassadors or appointed the heads of their embassies in a charge d’affaires capacity, which does not require presenting credentials to the host government.

State and private Chinese companies have shown interest in investing in Afghanistan, with some signing contracts with the Taliban in recent months. However, international banking sector sanctions have deterred foreign investors from undertaking major initiatives.

Around 20 neighboring and regional countries have kept their embassies operational or reopened diplomatic missions since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, when all U.S.-led Western troops withdrew from the country and ended their two-decade-long involvement in the Afghan war.

Washington and other Western countries have since moved their Afghan diplomatic missions to Qatar to ensure they can sustain humanitarian aid for millions of Afghans.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s neighbors and regional countries, including Russia, India and Turkey, have allowed the Taliban to take control of Afghan diplomatic missions on their respective soils, which are being run at charge d’affairs level.

The Taliban’s global isolation mainly stems from their sweeping curbs on Afghan women’s rights. They have forbidden teenage girls from receiving an education beyond the sixth grade and barred most women from public and private workplaces across the impoverished country, where half of the population needs humanitarian aid.

The de facto authorities are under sustained international pressure to remove restrictions on women, govern the country through an inclusive political setup, and prevent terrorists from operating out of Afghan soil.

The male-only Taliban government has rejected criticism of its policies, saying they are aligned with local culture and Islamic law. They also have claimed no terrorist groups operate in the country.

The United Nations has ruled out granting Afghanistan’s seat to the Taliban until they address international concerns and end their harsh treatment of women.

Other Diplomatic News

Targeted Massacre of Hazaras in Taliban-Ruled Afghanistan Sparks Protests in Jebraiel Area of Herat City

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8am: Unidentified gunmen struck around 3:00 PM on Friday, December 1, opening fire on the occupants of a rickshaw in the “Korra Milli” area in Jebraiel township, located in District 13 of Herat. As a result of this brutal attack, two Shiite religious scholars and four women lost their lives, with three others sustaining injuries. In response to this heinous act, protesters called for an immediate end to the targeted killings of Hazaras and demanded the swift apprehension of those responsible for this tragic event. During their demonstration, they solemnly carried the bodies of the victims as a poignant expression of their grief and outrage. Click here to read more (externa link).

Afghanistan bagged a historic medal in Yerevan

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asbcnews: The last part of the quarter-finals featured at the IBA Junior World Boxing Championships in Yerevan, Armenia on Day7 and all of the winners are now guaranteed medallists. India, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are the strongest countries but Afghanistan bagged a historic medal in the session. Boxers who were born in 2007 and in 2008 are eligible to participate in the Junior World Boxing Championships. Afghanistan, Chinese Taipei, India, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Qatar, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan sent their boxers from the Asian continent. Click here to read more (external link).

‘The cracks are getting bigger and there are still aftershocks – we fear our house may collapse’

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The Telegraph (UK): Between October 7 and October 15, Herat province in western Afghanistan was hit by four back-to-back earthquakes, each registering a magnitude of 6.3. This seismic cascade was interspersed with frequent and ongoing tremors, which have left people in “a persistent state of anxiety and fear”, the World Health Organization has said.  Seven weeks later people are still struggling to recover, with shelter a central issue. Remote villages in the province remain flattened and much of Herat city, a centuries-old citadel, is structurally unsound.  Click here to read more (external link).

Afghans Face Abuses in Pakistan, US Announces Hotline

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Akmal Dawi
VOA News
November 29, 2023

Pakistani police are facing accusations of unlawfully detaining, beating, extorting and sexually harassing Afghan refugees as part of a coercive campaign aimed at compelling them to return to their home country.

“Police and other officials have carried out mass detentions, seized property and livestock, and destroyed identity documents to expel thousands of Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers,” U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Afghan women told Human Rights Watch that Pakistani police had sometimes sexually harassed some Afghan women and girls and threatened them with sexual assault.”

Amnesty International has also reported on the trauma experienced by refugee women during police night raids.

“Many women are sleeping fully covered [in veils] because they are afraid of nighttime police raids by male police officers,” the U.K.-based rights organization said, quoting a female human rights lawyer.

Afghans in need of visa extensions in Pakistan are reportedly required to pay fines exceeding $800, while others have reported extortion.

“Afghan traders in Akbari Mandi in Lahore were searched for documentation by individuals in plain clothes claiming to be police officials who confiscated Rs. 500,000 [$1,750] in cash,” Amnesty International said.

United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk has expressed alarm at these reports and urged Islamabad to cease the deportation campaign.

“The local police conducted a night raid on our home,” a refugee told the U.N. human rights body. “They confiscated cash, jewelry, goats, sheep and other items from our home and took them.”

Cause for deportation

In October, Pakistani authorities announced that all foreign nationals in the country without valid visas and permits would be expelled within a short period.

While Pakistani officials cite Afghan nationals’ alleged involvement in crimes and security incidents, experts suggest that Islamabad is leveraging mass deportations to press the Afghan Taliban to meet its security demands.

Islamabad claims Pakistani Taliban insurgents have havens in Afghanistan from where they orchestrate terrorist attacks in Pakistan. The Afghan Taliban deny the charge.

“The mass deportation is primarily driven by considerations — in particular Pakistan’s loss of patience with the Taliban — that have little to do with any purported danger posed by migrants and refugees themselves,” U.S.-based International Crisis Group reported this month.

Aid agencies have warned that a mass deportation, particularly during the cold season, would exacerbate the already dire humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.

Nearly half of the 3 million Afghans living in Pakistan are registered by the United Nations as refugees. The U.N. has reported that more than 370,000 Afghans have repatriated from Pakistan over the past two months.

US hotline

About 25,000 Afghans who worked for U.S. and international programs in Afghanistan prior to the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 are in Pakistan with applications for resettlement in the United States pending.

Afghans seeking U.S. consular services must travel to a third country, primarily Pakistan, because the U.S. Embassy in Kabul remains closed, and Washington has refused to diplomatically recognize the Taliban regime.

This week, the U.S. Department of State announced an emergency hotline for Afghans who are on a pathway to U.S. immigration and resettlement but face deportation or detainment in Pakistan.

The Department of State did not respond to questions about the kind of services the hotline provides, but messages sent via WhatsApp to the hotline returned autoreplies asking for personal identification, date and place of detention for individuals concerned.

“Chats are answered in the order they are received,” a reply from the hotline said.
Human rights groups have called on the U.S. and other Western governments to expedite the resettlement process of Afghans from Pakistan to prevent their possible expulsion to Afghanistan, where they could face persecution.

Other Afghan Refugee News

Taliban Say Afghan Embassy in India Set to Resume Operations Soon

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
November 29, 2023

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — A senior Taliban government official has stated its representatives have taken control of Afghanistan’s diplomatic missions in India, including the embassy in New Delhi.

Shir Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, the Taliban deputy foreign minister, has told Afghan state-run television that the embassy in the Indian capital would reopen in the next couple of days.

His assertions came after diplomats loyal to the U.S.-backed ousted Afghan government announced last week they were permanently shutting down the embassy over alleged lack of cooperation from the host country, among other issues.

“Our consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad are functioning and in contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [in Kabul] and delivering routine consular services,” Stanekzai said in his interview the RTA aired on Tuesday.

He added that consuls at both missions moved to New Delhi earlier this week and reopened offices at the Afghan embassy. “God willing, our embassy will resume regular services in two to three days.”

The Islamist Taliban reclaimed power in Afghanistan two years ago, but India and the world at large have not granted them diplomatic legitimacy, mainly over human rights conners and their harsh treatment of Afghan women.

Last Friday, the Afghan embassy posted a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying the mission was shutting down and the keys had been given to the host government. It alleged pressure from both India and the Taliban had forced the decision.

“Unfortunately, despite an eight-week wait, the objectives of visa extension for diplomats and a shift in the Indian government’s conduct were not realized,” the statement quoted the then-Ambassador Farid Mamundzay as saying.

It noted that Afghan diplomats had reached third countries, and none remained in India. They are reportedly seeking asylum in the U.S. and Europe.

“The only individuals present in India are diplomats affiliated with the Taliban, visibly attending their regular online meetings,” the embassy said, without discussing the status of the consulates in Mumbai and Hyderabad.

The Indian foreign ministry so far has not commented on the status of the Afghan diplomatic missions in the country.

India is among the more than a dozen countries that have kept open or returned to reopen their embassies in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover. They included neighboring Pakistan, China, Iran, and Russia.

These countries also have allowed Taliban diplomats to take charge of Afghan diplomatic missions on their respective soils, saying their engagement is aimed at facilitating humanitarian aid and ensuring the war-torn country does not plunge into chaos again.

The United States and other Western countries relocated their diplomatic missions to Qatar just before the U.S.-led international forces withdrew in August 2021, ending nearly two decades of Western involvement in the war with the then-insurgent Taliban.

Washington remains the largest donor of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, where millions require assistance.

Resistance and Its Vital Necessity

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8am: The Taliban stand as a significant and primary impediment to the human rights of the people of Afghanistan. Therefore, resisting the rigid and harsh ideology of this terrorist group is crucial to achieving fundamental human freedoms. The historical experience with the Taliban has proven their indifference to reformist ideas and recommendations. As various forms of resistance against the Taliban persist in society, these resistances need to continue and intensify. Over the past two decades, this group has become a bloodthirsty terrorist organization, committing various explosive and suicide attacks and causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. They have shown a ruthless willingness to massacre and shed blood in the face of any dissenting thoughts or beliefs. In light of this, the most powerful tool available to the people in Afghanistan, enabling them to progress towards human rights, is the refusal to submit to the Taliban and to resist and fight against this group. Click here to read more (external link).

Afghan Women Activists Seek Taliban ICC Trial Over Rights Abuses

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By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
November 28, 2023

Afghan women’s rights activists are demanding the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecute Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers for systemic violations of human rights.

In an open letter sent to the ICC on November 27, they accused the Taliban, who seized power in August 2021 as international troops withdrew from the country, of consistently violating the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

“They must be prosecuted,” said one activist who requested anonymity because of security fears.

“The Taliban has imposed a gender apartheid in Afghanistan by excluding women from the society through employment and education bans while also persecuting rights activists,” she added.

She is one of dozens of signatories to the letter.

The letter argues that the treatment of Afghan women under the Taliban constitutes a gender apartheid because “they are systematically deprived of basic freedoms and human and citizenship rights.”

The letter also highlights the persecution of Afghan women’s rights activists.

Since the Taliban returned to power, the Taliban has put down, often violently, protests by Afghan women over their lack of rights. Hundreds of women have been imprisoned after their protests were declared illegal.

“Such letters can help the international community to fulfill its obligation toward the Afghan women,” Maryam Maarouf Arvin, an Afghan women’s rights activist, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi.

Five women’s rights activists — Neda Parwani, Zholya Parsi, Manijeh Sediqi, Bahare Karimi, and Parisa Azadeh — are currently in Taliban custody.

Since returning to power, the hard-line Islamist Taliban has banned women and teenage girls from education in Afghanistan. It has also banned them from employment in most sectors and discouraged them from leaving their homes.

On November 26, global rights watchdog Amnesty International launched an online petition saying the Taliban has started “a new era of human rights abuse and violations” that has put the country “at the brink of irreversible ruin.”

“Not only [have] the Taliban de-facto authorities…broken their promise of protecting Afghan people’s rights, especially women’s rights, they have resumed the cycle of violence and committed a litany of human rights abuses and violations with full impunity,” the petition says.

“Human rights are under attack on all fronts. It must be stopped,” it added.

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.