HRW Warns Of Justice Failure To Protect Afghan Women Amid Fears Of Worse To Come

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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
August 5, 2021

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has issued a new warning on the failures of Afghanistan’s justice system to adequately protect women and said gains by Taliban militants currently waging an all-out push for territory “further risk crucial legal protections.”

In a 32-page report on the implementation of a law to eliminate violence against women, the watchdog cites a government “failure to provide accountability for violence against women and girls.”

The fresh warning follows months of territorial gains in dozens of districts across Afghanistan by hard-line fundamentalist Taliban fighters as U.S.-led international forces speed their pullout to make a deadline at the end of this month.

The Taliban has also besieged major Afghan cities amid reports of revenge attacks against perceived opponents, including a 21-year-old Afghan woman who was shot dead as she left her home for allegedly wearing too little clothing and going out without a male chaperone.

Afghanistan’s Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) law was originally passed by presidential decree in 2009 amid resistance from conservative opponents and provides protection for women against violence as well as forced marriages, underage marriages, and polygamous relationships.

It was regarded as a significant achievement by the government, women’s rights activists, and the country’s nascent civil society.

But HRW said in a statement on the new report that “limited enforcement of the landmark…EVAW law has left many women and girls with no path to key protections and justice.”

“With the Taliban making sweeping territorial gains, the prospect of a Taliban-dominated government also threatens constitutional and international law protections for Afghan women’s fundamental rights,” the group said.

HRW Asia Associate Director Patricia Gossman urged international donors to “strengthen their commitment to protect women caught between government inaction and expanding Taliban control.”

“The international community must step up its efforts to protect the achievements and rights of women facing precarious conditions,” Gossman told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi.

Afghans living in areas recently captured by the Taliban say the militant group has reimposed many of the repressive laws and retrograde policies that defined its 1996-2001 rule.

They include forcing women to cover themselves from head to toe, banning them from working outside the home, severely limiting girls’ education, and requiring women to be accompanied by a male relative when they left their homes.

“The main concern of Afghan women is that their rights are protected,” Hila Mojtaba, a women’s rights activist, told RFE/RL. “We want freedom within the law and our demands must be respected.”

Meanwhile, Roya Dadras, a spokeswoman for the Women’s Affairs Ministry, said the government was committed to protecting women’s rights and gains.

“We acknowledge that there are problems because of the war situation,” she said. “But I can say that the government has protected women’s rights.”

The report is based on more than 60 interviews with women and girls who reported crimes, as well as participants in the justice system and advocacy groups.

HRW said “full implementation of the law remains elusive, with police, prosecutors, and judges often deterring women from filing complaints and pressing them to seek mediation within their family instead.”

It also cites family pressure, financial constraints, stigmatization, and fear of reprisal as factors that discourage the registering of cases.

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.

Anti-Taliban Pakistani Political Movement Struggles to be Heard

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Nafees Takar
VOA News
August 5, 2021

When thousands gathered in a former Taliban stronghold in Pakistan’s South Waziristan region to denounce the militants’ actions in Afghanistan, the mass rally attracted little attention among Pakistani news networks.

Journalists and rights associations say the lack of coverage of last month’s rally is a result of a long-running government campaign to deprive the organizing group of attention, and a sign of the government pressures Pakistani media endure.

The group behind the rally — a broad-based civil rights movement known as Pashtun Tahafuz (protection) Movement (PTM) — is popular among young ethnic Pashtuns in Pakistan’s northwest, where for years people have borne the brunt of the Taliban’s battle with the Pakistani military.

The group’s leaders are highly critical of the Taliban as well as the military’s leadership, saying their communities have suffered from state-sponsored terrorism because of Islamabad’s longtime ties to the Taliban.

Pakistan’s military rejects such allegations and points to thousands of its soldiers who have died fighting the militants over the last decade.

Several senior Pakistani officials have accused PTM of being a foreign-funded political movement with connections to Afghan and Indian intelligence services. And a PTM leader is currently in prison on conspiracy charges.  But the group, which calls itself a non-violent movement, denies accusations it receives foreign funding.

Grass-roots opposition to the Taliban

PTM leader Manzoor Pashteen said that Pashtuns would not support the war on their land, apparently referring to the Pashtun regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan which straddle their shared border.

“War can’t resolve the Afghan issue. Only a democratic approach and respect to peoples’ vote can resolve the Afghan issue,” Manzoor Pashteen told last month’s rally near the Afghan border at Makeen, a major town in the South Waziristan.

But outside of social media and a few local journalists who post content on YouTube, no mention of PTM’s pro-peace narrative was made in Pakistan’s bigger news outlets.

The gap in coverage was noticed by some politicians and activists on social media. Farhatullah Babar, a retired senator and former spokesperson for Pakistan’s president, wrote, “Those who say there is no censorship and media in Pakistan is freer than UK’s should watch videos of PTM Jalsa in Makeen South Waziristan today. Then search for a line about it in mainstream media.”

A former head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Afrasiab Khattak, also expressed his frustration, tweeting: “A demonstration of solidarity with Afghan people/peace/republic. No coverage in Pak media.

Despite the major media blackout, the PTM group gets its message out through social media and YouTube, keeping it a potent political force that is now more directly opposing the Taliban’s violence in Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s government has announced no official policy censoring PTM, but Freedom House and other media monitors reported that many outlets stopped reporting on the group in April 2019, when a Pakistani military spokesperson announced that PTM’s grievances would no longer be tolerated and accused the group of receiving funds from Afghan and Indian intelligence agencies.

In its 2021 report, Freedom House criticized Pakistan, saying “the state continued to enforce a media blackout on the PTM and its members during the year.”

Two Pakistani journalists who spoke with VOA said reporters try to cover events and PTM rallies in their region but doing so comes with risks.

Allah Khan, a journalist in Wanna, South Waziristan, streams PTM events, political demonstrations and human interest stories on his Zhagh News (Voice News) YouTube and Facebook accounts.

“We journalists send stories on PTM to mainstream news outlets but they don’t publish it,” he told VOA.  “I was arrested and put in jail for 12 days for streaming the PTM protest before this last Ramadan [April 2021].”

Matiullah Jan, an Islamabad-based journalist and Vlogger, told VOA, “You can see here that Taliban and their spokesmen are interviewed here in the media but when you talk of PTM, even the social media platforms are under pressure (for covering it).”

Jan said that in areas like Waziristan, people can stream events but they “face threats and pressures from local authorities and police.”

He added, “It explains the contradiction in state policy—people who want peace here and in Afghanistan, they are not given coverage in media.”

Shahzada Zulfiqar, the head of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, told VOA Deewa that media in Pakistan face many restrictions.

“Media houses surrendered (to pressures). PEMRA, a government media regulatory body, is being used as a tool to put lock to people’s mouths,” he said, adding that the country has a poor ranking on press freedom watch lists.

Pakistan ranks 145 out of 180 countries, where 1 is the freest, on the press freedom index compiled by media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

In its 2021 report, RSF says the Pakistani media have become a priority target for the country’s “deep state,” a reference to the military and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Dangerous territory

North and South Waziristan border Afghanistan’s Khost and Paktika provinces, which after the September 2001 terror attacks on the U.S. became an international terrorism hub. After 20 years of war and drone strikes, international fighters still operate in the mountainous region.

Reporting in the area remains an enormous challenge. Journalists who are not residents of Waziristan are officially not allowed to enter Waziristan unless they are embedded with Pakistani security agencies. To reach the main town of Makeen in South Waziristan from Dabara, a town some 70 kilometers away, locals must pass through about a dozen army check posts.

The venue for last month’s rally was once a no-go area for residents themselves. The Taliban and their allies had converted schools and cement-block buildings into bases for their operations.

After a long campaign by Pakistan’s military, the area now is under its control. But the PTM has accused it of gross human rights violations — allegations the army rejects.

VOA’s Pashto-language Deewa service reporters Adnan Khan and Pir Z Shah also contributed to this report.

COVID-19 Variant Cases Declining in Afghanistan: Health Officials

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Tolo News: The Afghan Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) on Thursday said that cases of the COVID-19 variant are declining in Afghanistan, stating that the public still needs to respect all health guidelines to prevent the recirculation of the virus. Officials at the Afghan-Japan hospital said that fatalities from the virus have also significantly dropped. Click here to read more (external link).

Fleeing the Taliban: Afghans met with rising anti-refugee hostility in Turkey

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The Guardian (UK): It was a journey that had taken weeks, and there were times when the 65-year-old Afghan widow, who walks with the aid of a stick, had to be carried by her son. Their trek, across 15 canyons she says, left Durdana with badly scarred feet. “I have not had a day of peace in over 40 years. I had to come to Turkey, there was no choice.” Click here to read more (external link).

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Afghan Police Say Taliban Killed Young Woman For Wearing Tight Clothing

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RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
August 4, 2021

Police in Afghanistan’s northern province of Balkh say the Taliban killed a young woman for wearing tight clothing and not being accompanied by a male relative.

Balkh police chief Zialuhaq Toofan told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi on August 3 that the young woman was shot dead by Taliban extremists in the village of Samar Qandian, which is controlled by the militant group.

Adil Shah Adil, a police spokesman in Balkh, told Radio Azadi on August 4 that the victim was named Nazanin and that she was 21-years-old.

Adil said the woman was attacked after she left her house and was about to board a vehicle to travel to Balkh’s capital Mazar-e Sharif.

The woman was wearing a burqa, a veil that covers the face and body, at the time of the attack, the police said.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid denied the accusations and said that the group is investigating the attack.

During its 1996-2001 rule, the Taliban denied girls the right to go to school, and women were not allowed to work outside the home. Women had to wear a burqa and be escorted by a male relative when going outside.

Afghans living under Taliban control have told Radio Azadi that the extremist group imposes some of its repressive laws, including banning women from working outside the home.

This story is based on reporting by RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi correspondents on the ground in Afghanistan. Their names are being withheld for their protection.

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.

Taliban Slam US Relocation Program for Afghans, Take Credit for Kabul Bombing

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Ayaz Gul
VOA News
August 4, 2021

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – The Taliban condemned the United States on Wednesday for what they described as “plain interference” in Afghanistan by offering to resettle Afghan civilians with affiliations to international forces who could be targeted by the insurgent group.

Washington on Monday announced the program that offers thousands of Afghan interpreters and translators, along with their families, a chance to relocate as refugees in America.

U.S. and NATO allies are just weeks away from winding down their military missions in the war-torn South Asian nation after 20 years. The troop withdrawal, however, has led to a record escalation in insurgent violence as the Taliban have overrun dozens of government-held districts.

“The offer of visas and encouragement to leave their home country by the U.S. government to Afghans who worked with the American occupation as interpreters and in other sectors is plain interference in our country which the Islamic Emirate [Taliban] condemns,” said a statement Wednesday.

The insurgent group renewed its pledge not to harm the Afghans in question following the end of “the American occupation” of the country.

“They may live comfortably in their homeland without any fear of threats. We urge the United States along with other countries to desist from such interventionist policies,” said the insurgent statement.

Washington, however, is not convinced and has increasingly denounced reports the Taliban are allegedly committing war crimes in their recent territorial advances.

“If the Taliban want their promises of safety to be taken seriously, then they cannot allow those they claim to protect to come to harm in this way,” the U.S. Embassy in Kabul tweeted Wednesday.

The statement came in response to reports that the insurgents entice Afghan security forces to surrender with assurances for their safety, and that those soldiers then disappear and their widows are forced to marry Taliban fighters.

“If true, these could constitute war crimes,” the embassy said.

The Taliban have already dismissed the allegations as baseless and part of the Afghan intelligence agency’s propaganda against the Islamist group.

Meanwhile, the Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide car bomb-and-gun raid late Tuesday on a guesthouse housing the acting Afghan defense minister.

Afghan officials said the militant raid in Kabul killed at least eight people, mostly civilians, and wounded 20 others, but noted that Defense Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi was not at the guesthouse at the time.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement Wednesday that a group of insurgent suicide bombers targeted a meeting of senior defense ministry officials for ordering government airstrikes against civilians in insurgent-held areas.

Fighting has intensified across Afghanistan in recent days as government forces attempt to contain insurgent advances and keep them from major cities.

Embattled Lashkar Gah, the capital of southern Helmand province, has been the scene of deadly clashes between the warring Afghans.

Recent clashes have enabled the insurgents to capture most of the city, except government administrative buildings and the airport.

The Taliban assaulted the provincial police headquarters in Lashkar Gah on Wednesday and clashes were ongoing throughout the day.

Provincial health officials and charities running private clinics urged residents of the city to stay inside their homes to avoid being caught in the crossfire. They also reported receiving scores of casualties, including some in critical condition, but would not say whether they were combatants or Afghan civilians.

The Taliban have extended control to roughly half of Afghanistan’s districts since the U.S.-led foreign troops officially began withdrawing from the country in early May.

The violence is expected to increase in coming days. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced on Tuesday that his government had started implementing a new plan to improve the security situation over the next six months.

US envoy denounces violence

Both sides have ignored domestic and international calls to resume U.S.-brokered peace negotiations toward a deal that would end the country’s long conflict.

“It’s heartbreaking given the level of violence and the suffering, the pictures one sees coming out of places like Lashkar Gah,” Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. special peace envoy for the country, told VOA on Monday.

“There has got to be a political formula. The [Afghan] government cannot get rid of the Taliban, it’s our assessment, and the Taliban cannot conquer Afghanistan,” Khalilzad said.

“And the wise thing is for both sides to engage seriously and quickly, urgently, to respond to the wishes of the people of Afghanistan for a political agreement,” he added.

The U.S. envoy negotiated and signed a landmark deal with the Taliban that paved the way for the American military withdrawal and opened peace talks between the Afghan parties to the conflict. The dialogue has failed to produce any significant outcome or reduce the Afghan violence.

The United Nations says Afghan civilian deaths and injuries went up by 47 percent in the first six months of 2021 compared with the same period last year.

Most casualties have occurred since early May. The global body warned last week that Afghanistan was on course to witness its highest-ever number of civilian casualties in a single year.

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Turkey detains 300 migrants near Iranian border

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Ariana: Turkish security forces have detained around 300 migrants, mostly Afghans, on Tuesday who were trying to cross into Turkey from the Iranian border, authorities said on Wednesday. The group were found inside a large truck, including women and young children. Click here to read more (external link).

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Afghan Civilians Urged To Flee Besieged Southern City As Kabul Attacks Target Power Centers

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Taliban (file photo)

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
August 4, 2021

Civilians fled their homes in southern Afghanistan on August 4 as government troops prepared a counterattack to retake swaths of the city of Lashkar Gah from the Taliban, as international concerns intensify over civilian casualties in several major urban centers.

With intense battles under way in the west and south, Kabul was struck by multiple attacks on defense and security power centers that killed at least eight people.

Major areas of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province, are said to be under the control of the Taliban, which has reportedly besieged local government facilities and shut down government-friendly broadcasts.

The military has urged Afghans to evacuate the city, but it is unclear whether civilians can safely access routes leading out of Lashkar Gah.

In Kabul, an explosion near Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) building early on August 4 wounded three civilians and a security official, police said.

The blast came hours after a car-bomb explosion near Kabul’s diplomatic district on August 3 killed several people, including attackers.

Another blast and gun attack that apparently targeted Afghanistan’s acting defense minister killed eight people, including a woman, and wounded 20 others.

An Interior Ministry spokesman said gunmen entered Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi’s compound after the blast but that all four attackers were killed after five hours of fighting.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack, which is in a fortified part of the city that also houses other government officials.

Mohammadi on August 4 confirmed he was not in the guesthouse and his family had been safely evacuated.

Taliban fighters have captured dozens of rural districts in recent weeks in a sweeping offensive that is now focused on control over Laskar Gah and two other large cities — Herat in the west and Kandahar in the south.

The dire situation for the civilian population caught in the cross fire was highlighted by the United Nations, which on August 3 reported that at least 40 civilians had been killed in Lashkar Gah in the previous 24 hours.

The UN Security Council’s 15 members later expressed “deep concern” at the violence and condemned deliberate attacks on civilians “in the strongest terms.”

They also warned against a return to Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

In a statement, the council urged the Afghan government and the Taliban “to engage meaningfully in an inclusive, Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process in order to make urgent progress toward a political settlement and a cease-fire.”

Lashkar Gah, a city of 200,000 people, would be the Taliban’s biggest urban conquest since they launched a nationwide offensive in May amid an accelerated withdrawal of U.S.-led international forces.

For the Afghan government, the loss of the city would be a huge strategic and psychological blow.

The dire situation of civilians caught in the cross fire was also compounded by reports of atrocities committed by the advancing Taliban against the civilian population as well as prisoners in several provinces.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on August 3 that Taliban forces “have summarily executed detained soldiers, police, and civilians with alleged ties to the Afghan government” in Ghazni, Kandahar, and other Afghan provinces.

“Summarily executing anyone in custody, whether a civilian or combatant, is a serious violation of the Geneva Conventions and a war crime,” said Patricia Gossman, associate HRW Asia Director.

“Taliban commanders with oversight over such atrocities are also responsible for war crimes.”

U.S.-led international combat troops are on an accelerated timeline to complete their withdrawal by the end of this month despite a stalemate in intra-Afghan peace talks and the Taliban’s gains since May 1.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, and tolonews.com

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.

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