United Nations Will Not Consult on Recognition of Taliban, Says UN Spokesperson

No details have been provided about the charges against these people and how long they were in Taliban’s prisons.

The Taliban’s Supreme Court also stated that it has reduced the prison terms of 471 other prisoners.

According to the Taliban’s statement, based on the decrees from the Taliban leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, these prisoners have been released.

While there is no official account of the number of prisoners inside the Taliban prisons, unofficial reports indicate that many dissidents, civil activists, and soldiers in the republic order of Afghanistan have been imprisoned by the Taliban.

Samuel Paty, a geography and history teacher, was attacked on October 16, 2020, by a young Muslim refugee from Chechnya in the suburbs of Paris after showing caricatures of the Prophet of Islam to students during one of the discussions related to freedom of expression in France.

After that incident, the 26-year-old Afghan national was arrested by the French police for supporting the murder of this teacher on social media, including Facebook and TikTok.

After serving his sentence in a detention center in Lille city, the Afghan national was transferred to New Delhi on a flight on March 23 to be returned to Kabul.

This is the first time that France has deported an asylum seeker to Afghanistan after the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021.

Nazari added that recognising a terrorist and criminal organisation as Afghanistan's government is an insult and betrayal to the resilient people of the country.

The head of the foreign relations of NRF called on the international community to stand united with Afghanistan and oppose any attempt to legitimise a terrorist group.

Previously, Amina Mohammed, the deputy secretary general of the United Nations said that in two weeks, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will meet with the various countries' special representatives for Afghanistan.

She added, “We hope that we'll find those baby steps to put us back on the pathway to recognition [of the Taliban], a principled recognition. Is it possible? I don't know. [But] that discussion has to happen. The Taliban clearly want recognition, and that's the leverage we have."

Meanwhile, the Women Movement for Freedom and Peace described the UN official's statement as "irresponsible and hasty".

The movement said in a statement that Mohammed's statements are against the values of human rights and the main mission of the United Nations, and ignores the basic rights of the Afghan people.

Criticising the statements of this UN official, the movement said that in the last 20 months, the Taliban have excluded women from social life.

Several Afghan citizens have also criticised the statements of the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations.

Amina Mohammed said on Monday that recognising the Taliban would help hold the group accountable.

Earlier, Achim Steiner, the UNDP administrator, had stated that if the Taliban doesn’t agree with the work of the United Nation’s Afghan female staffers, the organisation is ready to leave Afghanistan.

UNDP also announced on Tuesday that the number of Afghans living in poverty has increased from 19 million in 2020 to 34 million in 2022.

Referring to the findings of its recent report that foreign aid prevented the collapse of Afghanistan's economy, the United Nations Development Programme called continued international support for the people of Afghanistan critical.

The organisation has called on the Taliban to immediately lift the ban on Afghan female staffers of the UN and other restrictive decisions against women in Afghanistan.

The Taliban recently banned female staffers of the UN from working with UN offices in Afghanistan.

Following this decision, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan asked all male and female staffers of the UN to avoid reporting for work in the UN offices.

The Taliban has imposed severe restrictions on the media and journalists over the past 20 months since they have taken control of Afghanistan.

According to a statement issued by the Taliban on Wednesday, Abdul Kabir said that the Taliban sees the media industry as "a bridge between the government and the nation”.

The Taliban’s deputy prime minister urged the media representatives to present the real situation of Afghanistan and refrain from propaganda.

Abdul Kabir also stressed that Afghan society would be incomplete without a strong media industry.

He also asked the media representatives to "maintain their independence and publish the realities of society with a nationalistic and Islamic spirit”.

The Taliban's restrictions and pressures on the media professionals have caused many media groups to end their activities and hundreds of journalists to flee the country.