Officials: Afghanistan Does Not Need a Constitution
Tolo News: A Ministry of Justice representative said Afghanistan does not require a constitution and can resolve its issues with only the application of Islamic law. In a press conference, Abdul Karim Haider, the deputy minister of justice, stated that Hanafi law serves as the framework for resolving people’s problems. Regarding political party activities, the deputy minister of justice noted that given the current situation, there is no need for parties to be active. Click here to read more (external link).
UNICEF to Launch Measles Vaccination Campaign in Zabul Provinc
8am: Officials of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Zabul province report that they have kicked off the vaccination campaign and will cover 13,000 children with measles vaccination. One of the local officials of UNICEF in Zabul province said on Sunday that the measles vaccination campaign will be implemented in Mizani and Khak-e Afghan districts of the province. Click here to read more (external link).
Iran Accuses Kabul of Not Honoring Water Rights
Tolo News: The Iranian Department of the Environment accused Kabul of not honoring the water rights of the Helmand river. Ali Salajegheh, the Vice President of Iran and Head of Iran’s Department of Environment, in an interview with the Islamic Republic News Agency “IRNA” said that the Minister of Defense of Iran discussed the issue with the officials of the Islamic Emirate. Selajegheh stated that his country is forced into making use of international resources in this regard. Click here to read more (external link).
UN Chief Urges Taliban to End ‘Unjustifiable’ Ban on Girls’ Education
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
September 3, 2022
ISLAMABAD — U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres Friday renewed his call for Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to allow teenage girls to resume secondary education, saying “girls belong in schools.”
“Girls in Afghanistan continue to be locked out of the classroom,” he said on Twitter late Friday.
The Islamist group banned female students above the sixth grade from resuming classes across most Afghan provinces since they reclaimed power a year ago. The Taliban called it a temporary suspension but have refused to lift the ban, despite international pressure.
“This is an unjustifiable violation of equal rights that damages the entire country. Girls belong in school,” Guterres said on Twitter.
Critics say the ban has denied an entire generation access to education in Afghanistan, with devastating consequences for high school-aged girls and their families.
The Taliban had imposed a complete ban on girls’ education when they were previously in power from 1996 to 2001.
The hardline insurgent group took control of Afghanistan in August of last year when all U.S.-led foreign forces withdrew from the country, marking an end to nearly two decades of war with the Taliban. The internationally recognized government’s security forces collapsed in the face of nationwide insurgent attacks.
The Taliban have brought security to much of Afghanistan, but their curbs on women’s rights and on civil liberties have drawn global denunciation, leading to the country’s international isolation.
Taliban leaders have defended their polices and restrictions on women as in line with Afghan culture and Sharia, or Islamic law, dismissing international calls for reforms as an interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.
An already bad humanitarian crisis and the growing economic turmoil stemming from the Taliban takeover have plunged most of the poverty-stricken country’s estimated 40 million population into deeper poverty.
New Afghan envoy
Guterres late Friday announced the appointment of Kyrgyzstan’s former president, Roza Otunbayeva, as his new special envoy for Afghanistan. She succeeds Deborah Lyons of Canada as head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, known as UNAMA.
Otunbayeva will oversee U.N. humanitarian operations and dealings with the Taliban. She served as president of Kyrgyzstan from 2010 to 2011.
U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths warned the Security Council August 29 that Afghanistan faces deepening poverty, with 6 million people suffering severe food shortages stemming from humanitarian, economic, climate and financial crises.
“We worry” those figures will soon worsen as winter weather sends already high fuel and food prices skyrocketing, Griffiths said.
Related
Taliban Fighters Execute Two NRF-Affiliated Prisoners in Takhar
8am: Local sources in Takhar say that the Taliban have executed two prisoners who had affiliations with the National Resistance Front (NRF). The incident took place on Friday (September 2nd) in the village of Kata Amba, Warsaj district, Takhar province. Local sources in Takhar told Hasht-e Subh that the Taliban captured these two NRF members in the Warsaj district some time ago. Click here to read more (external link).
Tolo News in Dari – September 3, 2022
UN Calls On Taliban To Probe Allegations Of Forced Marriage, Rape Against Key Member
Khosti (left)
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
September 3, 2022
The United Nations has called on the Taliban-led government of Afghanistan to investigate allegations of the forced marriage and abuse of a medical student by an ex-Taliban official that has sparked strong condemnation by many Afghans.
“We call on the de facto authorities to transparently investigate all alleged violations of women’s rights, to hold perpetrators to account and to ensure safety of Afghan women and girls,” the UN diplomatic mission in Afghanistan said in a statement on September 2.
Since August 30, videos of a young woman have been circulating on social media in which she introduces herself as Elaha Delawazai, the daughter of a retired Afghan general and a medical student at Kabul University.
She accuses former Taliban Interior Ministry spokesman Saeed Khosty of forcibly marrying, torturing, and raping her. Footage also show photos of Delawazai with bruises on her face and around her eyes. It’s not clear when and where the video was recorded.
In another video, Delawazai is seen arguing with Khosty after he forcibly entered her home. A separate video shows Delawazai, with a shovel in her hands, throwing Khosty out from her home.
After the videos appeared on social media, Khosty confirmed that Delawazai was his ex-wife but rejected other allegations and accused her of blasphemy.
Khosty is a close aide of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the acting interior minister of the Taliban-led government and the leader of the notorious Haqqani network.
The woman’s whereabouts aren’t known. Delawazai said she tried to escape to Pakistan, but was detained at the border.
Since coming to power in August last year, the Taliban has been accused of seriously curtailing women freedoms, denying teenage girls the right to education, and barring most women from work.
Based on reporting by dpa and RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
Copyright (c) 2022. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
Four Children Killed In Afghanistan When Unexploded Ordnance Detonates
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
September 3, 2022
Four children were killed and three others injured when unexploded ordnance detonated in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand Province.
Police and a local doctor said on September 3 that the incident occurred after the children brought the ordnance inside their religious school and started to play with it.
Police said the children were aged 7 to 14.
Three died immediately and another later died at the hospital in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital.
Children in war-torn Afghanistan often collect scrap metal to sell to support their families, occasionally leading to tragedy when they come across unexploded ordinance.
Based on reporting by AP
Copyright (c) 2022. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
Former Kyrgyz President Otunbaeva Appointed UN Envoy For Afghanistan
Roza Otunbaeva
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
September 3, 2022
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has named former president of Kyrgyzstan Roza Otunbaeva as the UN’s new special representative for Afghanistan.
Otunbaeva, 72, replaces Deborah Lyons, who stepped down in mid-June, the United Nations said in a statement on September 2. She assumes the job as the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan have been drastically curtailed since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.
Otunbaeva became interim president of Kyrgyzstan in April 2010 after a bloody uprising forced then-President Kurmanbek Bakiev into exile. She relinquished the presidency the following year after new elections were organized.
Otunbaeva also served as foreign minister of Kyrgyzstan and held several high-ranked diplomatic positions as her country’s ambassador to the United States, Canada, and Britain.
Currently, she is a member of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation and the Head of the Roza Otunbaeva Initiative Foundation in Kyrgyzstan, the statement said.
Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters