Taliban Denies Summary Killings Of Former Members Of Afghan Security Forces

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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
December 5, 2021

The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan has rejected condemnation by Western countries over the alleged summary killings of former members of the Afghan security forces.

The Taliban’s Interior Ministry on December 5 rejected a joint statement the day before in which the United States, European Union, and 20 other countries said that they were “deeply concerned” by allegations of “serious human rights abuses” that contradict the Taliban’s pledge to provide amnesty to former members of the Afghan security forces.

The ministry also rejected allegations by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a report documenting executions and disappearances released on November 30.

“These reports and claims are not based on evidences,” spokesman Qari Sayed Khosti said in a video statement released by the Taliban. “We reject such claims.”

There have been some cases in which former members of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces were killed, he said, but added that they had been killed “because of personal rivalries and enmities.”

Many ex-regime security personnel are living peacefully in the country on the basis of the general amnesty the Taliban granted, he added.

After taking power in August, the Taliban promised a general amnesty for anyone affiliated with the toppled internationally backed government in Kabul and former security forces, but the human rights group’s findings and other reports suggests that at least some local commanders are not meeting the pledge.

The Taliban said in its initial response to the allegations that those responsible for abuses had been dismissed but provided no information to corroborate their claim.

In its report, HRW documented the killing or disappearance of 47 former members of the Afghan security forces who had surrendered to or were apprehended by the Taliban between August 15 and October 31.

The group said it had gathered credible information on the killing of more than 100 military personnel, police, intelligence service members, and militia from Ghazni, Helmand, Kandahar, and Kunduz provinces alone.

According to HRW, the Taliban has also used employment records that the former government left behind to “identify people for arrest and execution,” and carried out search operations to “apprehend and, at times, forcibly disappear suspected former officials.”

Such executions and disappearances “have generated fear among former government officials and others who might have believed that the Taliban takeover would bring an end to the revenge attacks that had been characteristic of Afghanistan’s long armed conflict,” the watchdog said.

In their statement, the Western governments demanded the reported abuses be investigated in a transparent manner and those responsible held accountable.

“These steps must be clearly publicized as an immediate deterrent to further killings and disappearances,” they said. “We will continue to measure the Taliban by their actions.”

No country has formally recognized the new Taliban government. Western countries are looking for ways to engage the Taliban and address the country’s dire humanitarian situation but want to avoid direct support for the new government.

The United States and its allies are conditioning recognition of the Taliban on it forming an inclusive government and respecting human rights, including those of minorities and women and girls.

Other conditions include the Taliban meeting its amnesty pledge, not allowing the country to become a base for international terrorism and allowing foreign nationals and Afghans who want to leave the country to do so.

With reporting by AFP

Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Afghan Activists Unhappy With Government Degree On Women’s Rights Protest In Kabul

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By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
December 5, 2021

Afghan women’s rights activists held a protest in Kabul on December 5, insisting that they will continue to fight for their right to education, employment, and participation in politics after the Taliban-led government issued a decree on women’s rights that they say is inadequate.

Writer and women’s rights activist Huda Khamosh said women are “a key part of the community,” and denying them the right to work and participate in Afghanistan’s political and economic life “is tantamount to a denial of women in society.”

Khamosh said the women involved in the protest want their voices to be heard at the United Nations and by the Taliban.

The government decree issued on December 3 calls for the enforcement of certain women’s rights that are already enshrined in Shari’a law, and it failed to mention key areas of concern for rights groups and Western governments.

The decree calls on leaders throughout Afghan society “to take serious action to enforce women’s rights.” It then focuses on marriage and widow’s rights. “No one can force women to marry by coercion or pressure,” the decree says, but it does not specifically mention underage marriage.

It also does not mention secondary education for girls, which has been suspended, or the employment of women, who have been barred from returning to jobs in the public sector since the Taliban seized power in August.

The protesters said the decree did not address the needs of all Afghan women and that Afghan women and girls need more work and education.

Marjan Ibrahimi, a protester and women’s rights activist, said the decree “implies that our only problem is forced marriage, which is not the only issue. Right now, we have lost our jobs and our right to study.”

Social rights activist Farida Akbari told reporters the new Taliban government should permit women access to education and employment.

Akbari said the decree would not have any particular benefit to women living in cities, where the practice of forced marriage is rarer.

“It is not acceptable for us to get married, eat, and stay at home,” she said. “We want our role in politics, economics, jobs, education and social activities where they can’t limit us.”

RFE/RL asked the Taliban-led government for comment, but none of its spokesmen responded.

Poverty has surged in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in August amid the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops. Foreign governments have sharply curtained aid donations to the country since then.

The decree appeared to be aimed at addressing criteria the international community considers a precondition to recognizing their government and restoring aid.

With reporting by AP

Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Human Rights Defenders Criticize the Taliban Prime Minister’s Decree

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Afghan woman today, under Taliban rule

8am: Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada has recently issued a decree on women’s rights. This decree focuses more on the rights of marriage, inheritance, and unsavory traditions. It does not mention the right to work, education, and political participation of women and girls in the new government. It also does not specify the extent to which women will participate and work in the government. Click here to read more (external link).

Related

Differentiate between Traitors and Patriots: Nabil in Response to Sadat’s Remarks

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Rahmatullah Nabil

8am: “Instead of fomenting and pervasive the talks between the majority and the ethnic minority at this time, it would be better to discuss and separate the traitorous minority from the patriotic majority,” Nabil tweeted on Saturday, December 4. Meanwhile, the remarks came as Ashraf Ghani’s former deputy interior minister at the University of Cambridge, Khoshal Sadat, said Pashtuns were in the majority in Afghanistan and had been marginalized for the past 20 years. Click here to read more (external link).

Related

France’s Macron Says Europeans Working To Open Diplomatic Mission In Kabul

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By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
December 4, 2021

French President Emmanuel Macron has said several European countries are working on opening up a common site for diplomatic representation in Kabul that would enable their ambassadors to return to Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover in August.

Speaking during a visit to Qatar on December 4, Macron told reporters that the move would happen as soon as possible, while stressing that it would not mean recognition of Afghanistan’s new rulers.

Most countries recalled their envoys from Kabul after the Taliban toppled the internationally backed government in Kabul in mid-August.

The United States and the European Union are conditioning recognition of the hard-line Islamist group on it forming an inclusive government and respecting human rights, including those of minorities and women and girls.

Other conditions include the Taliban not allowing the country to become a base for international terrorism and allowing foreign nationals and Afghans who want to leave the country to do so.

The United States and its allies evacuated tens of thousands of foreigners and at-risk Afghans ahead the chaotic end of the U.S.-led military presence in Afghanistan in late August following two decades of war.

But thousands more people want to leave the country, with those who worked closely with Western militaries seen to be in particular danger from Taliban retaliation.

In Doha, Macron thanked Qatar for facilitating the recent evacuation of some 330 people from Kabul to France via the Qatari capital.

A total of 258 Afghans, 11 French, around 60 Dutch nationals, and an unspecified number of people linked to them were on a flight chartered by Paris, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement on December 3.

It said the evacuated Afghans were “particularly threatened because of their engagements, in particular journalists, or their link with France.”

Qatar has long hosted a Taliban political office, and played a significant role both in diplomacy and evacuations at the end of the war in Afghanistan.

Since September 10, France has evacuated some 400 Afghans and 110 French nationals out of Kabul with the help of Qatar, according to the French ministry.

“I thank Qatar for the role it has played since the start of the crisis, and which permitted the organization of several evacuations,” Macron said before heading to Saudi Arabia.

“We are going to continue [evacuations]” the French president added.

France and Qatar jointly operated a humanitarian mission on December 2 to deliver medical equipment, food, and winter supplies to international organizations operating in Afghanistan, the French Foreign Ministry said in a separate statement.

The move comes as Afghanistan has experienced a sharp drop in international aid since the Taliban took control of the country, exacerbating an already severe humanitarian crisis.

In a report published on December 2, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that more than 24 million people in Afghanistan — 65 percent of the country’s population — will require life-saving assistance next year, including around 9 million people expected to be on the brink of famine.

With reporting by dpa, Reuters, and AFP

Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

Pakistan to Host OIC-led International Meeting on Afghanistan

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Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi

Ayaz Gul
VOA News
December 4, 2021

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan said Saturday it will host a conference of foreign ministers from Islamic countries later this month in a bid to avert a looming humanitarian and economic crisis in Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told reporters in the eastern city of Lahore that the “extraordinary session” of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation is being arranged in Islamabad for December 19 at the request of its current chair, Saudi Arabia.

He said the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain along with the European Union, the World Bank and representatives of relevant United Nations relief agencies will also be invited.

“The objective of arranging the conference is to draw the international attention to the humanitarian crisis that is neither in the interest of Afghanistan nor the world at large, and can only be averted through collective efforts,” Qureshi said.

“We will also try to mobilize international resources because we need them to avert the crisis,” he said.

The United Nations estimates 22.8 million people, more than half of Afghanistan’s population, are experiencing high levels of acute food shortages stemming from years of war, a severe drought and high levels of poverty.

“To abandon Afghanistan at this stage would be a historic mistake,” Qureshi warned. “Instability could give way to renewed conflict, it could trigger an exodus of refugees to neighboring countries and to you [the West] as well,” he said.

The foreign minister said his government will also invite a high-level delegation from Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban to the OIC meeting and related gatherings in Islamabad.

“We want them to come and directly share the ground situation and their concerns with the participants. The international community and other countries will also be able to share their assessments with them [the Taliban]. We think it can be a helpful exercise,” Qureshi added.

The OIC-led conference will be the biggest international gathering on Afghanistan since the Taliban took over the country in mid-August on the heels of a U.S.-led foreign troop exit after 20 years.

However, the global community has not yet recognized the Taliban government because of human rights and terrorism concerns.

Washington and European countries have imposed stringent economic sanctions on the Taliban and blocked the Islamist group’s access to billions of dollars in Afghan foreign assets as well as development assistance.

The sanctions raised prospects of an economic collapse and worsened the humanitarian emergency. The lack of diplomatic recognition of the Taliban government in Kabul has undermined delivery of urgently needed humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.

Pakistan has already dispatched humanitarian assistance, including food and medicine to Afghanistan, also pledging to send 50,000 tons of wheat. Islamabad has allowed rival India to send 50,000 tons of wheat in humanitarian assistance to neighboring Afghanistan through Pakistani territory.

Dead or alive? On the trail of the Taliban’s supreme leader

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Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada

AFP: Officials of the ousted Afghan regime and many Western analysts are sceptical, believing that Akhundzada died years ago. For them the madrassa visit was a carefully choreographed deception. There is a precedent — the Taliban pretended founder Mullah Omar was alive for two years following his death in 2013. Click here to read more (external link).