KABUL (Pajhwok): Last week some institutions have expressed concerns over human rights situation in Afghanistan but the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) dismissed these concerns, London showed interest for better relationship with Kabul and Afghanistan get $7.26 million aid.
Last week’s important events:
- UNSC calls for the appointment of special representative for Afghanistan; Mujahid dismissed the demand
- Bennett expresses concern over human rights situation in Afghanistan; Mujahid termed it propaganda against the IEA
- Blinken says restrictions against Afghan women will be harmful for Afghanistan; Mujahid says this issue has no connection with US
- Doha Agreement empowered Taliban and weakened our partners: White House spokesperson
- On the 4th anniversary of Doha Agreement, FM Muttaqi says US committed 1,700 violations, US says Taliban did not honor promises
- London want cordial relationship with Kabul: Dickson
- South Korea and UK provide $7.26 million aid to Afghanistan
Casualties
Five people were killed and three others injured in Afghanistan last week.
Local officials said a man was stubbed to death in Samangan and three others injured, in Laghman a man was killed in knife attack and unknown gunmen shot dead an 87-year-old man and his wife in Helmand province.
In Ghazni, a 16-year-old man was killed in blast from unexploded ordnance.
Note: Casualties figure here are based on Pajhwok Afghan News reports, there is possibility that some incidents may have not reported or some sources did not provide exact casualties figure.
According to the sources the previous week three people were killed in Afghanistan.
This comes that before regime change in Afghanistan in August 15, 2021, besides criminal incidents, hundreds of civilians and personnel from conflicting parties were killed and injured every week.
UNSC meeting on Afghanistan
The UN Security Council (UNSC) has held a meeting on the situation in Afghanistan last week and discussed the appointment of a special representative for Afghanistan in a closed-door meeting on the current situation in the country.
UN Secretary-General for Political and Peace-Building Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo briefed the meeting on the outcomes of recent Doha conference.
Stephane Dujarric, the secretary-general spokesman told a news conference in New York, UN Chief Antonio Guterres had been asked to appoint a special representative for Afghanistan, and he has started consultations in this regard.
Asked whether or not there was a timetable for appointing a special representative, Dujarric said: “This issue should be considered very seriously and we will announce it in person.”
But the IEA Spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said due to the lack of consensus among the UNSC members the UNSC meeting produced no result.
Before the UNSC meeting US, France, Japan, UK and 11 other countries in a joint statement stressed over the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan and asked the acting Afghan government to support the rights of its people, including women.
But Mujahid said countries that issued this statement lacked information about Afghanistan for this reason they issues such statement.
UN HR Council 55th session’s 9th meeting
Last week the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan Richard Bennett presented his report about Afghanistan in the UN Human Rights Council’s 55th Secession ninth meeting held in Geneva.
Bennett said: “The Taliban’s appalling treatment of women and girls framed in explicit gender policies violates the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the fundamental spirit and norms of international human rights law.”
He said a case against Afghanistan at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the violation of women’s rights should be initiated.
The special rapporteur outlined the situation in Afghanistan from September 1, 2023 to January 31, 2024, with further reflections on changes in the human rights landscape over the past year.
Bennett highlighted the IEA’s systematic suppression and expulsion of women and girls, constituting “crimes against humanity.”
He said: “Although the Taliban’s authority in Afghanistan remains de facto, they have a duty to respect international human rights law, in particular the treaties ratified by the State of Afghanistan, however, as is once again highlighted in the present report, and in the Special Rapporteur’s previous reports, the de facto authorities are failing in that duty, even in some cases in regard to their own commitments, such as the declared general amnesty for members of the former government of Afghanistan and its security forces and the Taliban’s guidelines on the treatment of detainees.”
IEA Spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid while reacting to Bennett report said such a report on the human rights situation was still an attempt to spread propaganda against IEA.
Mujahid said compared to the past, all Afghans, men and women, had physical, financial and spiritual safety and no one reserved the right to encroach on anyone’s right.
Before the special rapporteur report, Mujahid published a video clip on his Twitter handle and quoted a resident of Gaza as saying: “Richard Bennett and other westerners should end human rights abuses, truly support human rights and stop Israel’s cruelty and brutality.”
Mujahid said the issue of human rights in Afghanistan was being misused.
IEA’s response to US Secretary of State’s remarks
Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a session titled ‘Alliance for Afghan Women’s Economic Resilience” (AWER) that despite severe restrictions, Afghan women and girls remained determined to study, work and strive for their future.
He added that the world stood with Afghan women and girls and working together for their rights and development.
The top US diplomat had slammed restrictions on Afghan women’s employment and the ban on university education for girls.
Blinken had also announced the launch of three new programmes for Afghan women to increase their skills, training and job opportunities.
He said: “Countries from around the world, though, are determined to support Afghan women and girls who want to learn, who want to go to school, who want to pursue their education, who want to work.”
However, the caretaker government’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told the BBC the US did not sympathise with Afghans, including women, but sought its own benefits.
He said: “The issue of Afghanistan was not related to the US. Women’s rights are protected here. Afghanistan itself will deal with this issue, as it is confined to Afghans.”
Doha Agreement
After months of negotiations, the US and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan signed the Doha Agreement four years ago.
Doha peace pact was signed in Doha, Qatar between Mullah Abdul Ghani Beradar, a senior leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), and Zalmay Khalilzad, the than US Chief Negotiator on February 29, 2020.
Withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan, release of all prisoners, start of intra-Afghan talks and lifting of sanction by US were the most salient features of the agreement, it was also promised in the agreement that Afghanistan’s soil will not be used against US and its allies.
On the fourth anniversary of Doha Agreement, the United States and IEA accused each other of violating some parts of the agreement while IEA termed the deal their biggest success and achievement.
US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller on Thursday told reporters in Washington: “In our view, the agreement empowered the Taliban, weakened our partners in the Afghan Government, and committed the United States to withdrawing our troops with no clear plan for what should come next, the Taliban have not fulfilled their commitments in the Doha Agreement.”
They had not fulfilled their Doha commitment to engage in a meaningful dialogue with their fellow Afghans leading to a negotiated settlement and an inclusive political system.
But IEA spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said factors behind the signing of Doha Agreement included 20 years of freedom fighting, struggles and sacrifices of the people of Afghanistan. The agreement forced the US to pull its forces out of Afghanistan, he added.
Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Maulvi Amir Khan Muttaqi said the US had violated the Doha agreement 1700 times.
London: Interested in good relations with Kabul
Last week, UK special representative and Chargé d’Affaires in Kabul, Robert Chatterton Dickson met deputy prime minister for political affairs Maulawi Abdul Kabir.
He said London was interested in good relations with Kabul and was ready to work together with the Islamic Emirate for the stability and prosperity of Afghanistan.
Humanitarian aid
Last week, the European Union contributed more than 20 million euros to Afghanistan through the World Food Program.
South Korea donated four million dollars to Afghanistan and the United Kingdom one million pounds to the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund to help Afghans in need.
Nh/ma
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