Rights Group Urges UN Deputy Secretary General To Apologise For Statement on Taliban

During Raisi’s speech, the Taliban’s diplomat in charge of the Afghan embassy in Tehran was also present.

Raisi stressed that good relations with Islamic countries and neighbouring countries is one of the priorities of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

He called Afghanistan a member of the Islamic world and added that it is time to realise the will of the people of this country to determine their destiny.

The Islamic Republic has repeatedly asked the Taliban to form an inclusive government. The Taliban, however, considers the Iranian official’s call for the formation of an inclusive government to be an interference in their internal affairs.

However, last week, in response to the call of the Iranian foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, for an inclusive government at the Samarkand meeting, the Taliban’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi replied that he has not witnessed any inclusive government too.

The audio message of the Taliban spokesperson apparently targets the Taliban’s interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani, who published his own Eid message on Tuesday and did not mention Mullah Hibatullah in it.

Mujahid said in a voice message that sending independent messages out to the public may be against the group's united policy and may cause trouble.

It seems that the circle that supports Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Taliban, is worried about the appearance of Haqqani group leaders as independent leaders of the Taliban.

In the Eid message of Sirajuddin Haqqani, there is no mention of Mullah Hibatullah, and in general, he talked about the security of Afghanistan and emphasised on providing security by his own forces.

The permanent representative of Afghanistan in the United Nations office in Geneva emphasised on the adherence to the charter and values of the UN and added that the history of Afghanistan does not begin when the Taliban took over the country in August 2021.

The Afghan representation has stated that Afghans and the world are watching the United Nations.

Afghanistan’s permanent representation in Geneva is one of the many personalities and organisations from Afghanistan who have reacted strongly to Amina Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, who said on Monday at Princeton University that the steps to recognising the Taliban will be discussed in the meeting of the Secretary General of the United Nations with the special representatives of the countries for Afghanistan.

However, earlier Amina Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, said on Monday at Princeton University that the steps that lead to the recognition of the Taliban will be discussed in the meeting of the UN Secretary-General with the special representatives of various countries for Afghanistan.

However, the UN Secretary-General’s spokesperson tried to correct the statements of Mohammed about the recognition of the Taliban. Dujarric said that the United Nations does not have the authority to recognise the Taliban. He described Amina Mohammed as someone who has been on the front lines of fighting for the inalienable rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.

Dujarric also did not clarify whether the issue of the recognition of the Taliban will be raised in the meeting of the UN Secretary-General with envoys of various countries in Doha. He too did not deny or confirm the possibility of the presence of a Taliban representative in the UN meeting.

Dujarric stated that the UN meeting in Doha will be held on May 1 and 2, but will be held behind closed doors.

He stressed that the UN Secretary-General believes that it’s an urgent priority to advance an approach based on pragmatism and principles, combined with strategic patience, and to identify parameters for creative, flexible, principled, and constructive engagement with the Taliban.

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.