Messy Withdrawal From Afghanistan Result of Intelligence Weakness, Says Khalilzad

These countries announced that they condemn human rights violations in Afghanistan, especially gender discrimination against women and girls by the Taliban.

The countries said that they do not politically recognise the Taliban as Afghanistan's legitimate leaders, according to the Associated Press.

Recently, the foreign ministers of Germany, Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands have warned that if the situation of Afghan women and girls does not change, they will file a complaint against the Taliban with the International Court of Justice. The four countries stressed that the violation of the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan must stop.

In a statement on Wednesday, the foreign ministers of the four countries condemned the gross and systematic violations of human rights in Afghanistan, especially gender discrimination against women.

The Associated Press reported on Thursday that more than 20 countries have now backed the plan.

At the same time, Fereshta Abbasi, an Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch, called on other countries around the world to declare their support for the legal measures taken by these four countries.

"The announcement by Germany, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands may be the beginning of a path to justice for the Taliban's gross human rights violations against Afghan women and girls," Abbasi said.

Mélanie Joly added that the Taliban has consistently violated international law. On Thursday, Canada's foreign minister wrote on social media platform X that the Taliban has forced Afghan women and girls to remain silent.
Joly added that Canada firmly supports the women and girls of Afghanistan.

The foreign ministers of Germany, Australia, Canada and the Netherlands issued a strongly worded statement on Wednesday condemning the gross and systematic violations of human rights in Afghanistan, particularly gender discrimination against women. They threatened the Taliban with legal action.

The statement, published in New York on Wednesday, said that the Taliban's decrees and restrictions have systematically removed Afghan women and girls from public life.

They have warned that the Taliban must be held accountable for gross and systematic human rights violations and non-compliance with Afghanistan's international obligations.

According to them, Afghanistan is responsible under international law for violating its numerous obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Australia, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands have officially announced to the Taliban that they are "obliged to put an end to these violations," citing the convention.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women has been ratified by 189 countries, making it one of the most popular human rights treaties of the United Nations.

Afghanistan joined the convention in 2003.
The foreign ministers of the four countries also emphasised on joint action against the Taliban's policies towards women in separate statements after the publication of this announcement.

He explained that removing the Taliban from Russia's list of terrorist groups requires changes in the country's laws.

In an interview with Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, Rudenko said, "This process is not fast, because it requires changes in Russian laws."

At the same time, he added, "Russia, like some other countries, is ready to expand cooperation with the Taliban."

According to him, this cooperation is not possible without removing the Taliban from the list of terrorist groups.

In the interview, the text of which was published on Thursday, Rudenko said, "The Taliban movement is in power in Afghanistan and it is an objective reality that must be taken into account."

Zamir Kabulov, Russia's special representative for Afghanistan affairs, announced in June 2024 that the proposal to remove the Taliban's name from the list of terrorist organisations in Russia has been communicated to Vladimir Putin for a final decision. Zamir Kabulov said that there are still issues about the Taliban and a decision will be made after they are resolved.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters during a visit to Tashkent on May 29, 2024, that how to establish relations with the Taliban is a different question, but we must have a relationship with them somehow.

Putin referred to consultations with regional partners, including in Central Asia, on relations with the Taliban, saying, "We take into account the views of each of our partners and friends and will coordinate on this issue."

Andrey Rudenko said that the Taliban is also expected to be invited to the meeting. The previous meeting of the Moscow format was held on September 29, 2023, in Kazan.

The exact date of the sixth Moscow format meeting on Afghanistan has not yet been announced.

However, according to RIA Novosti, quoting Andrey Rudenko, the meeting will be held in Moscow in October.

Russian Ambassador to Kabul Dmitry Zhirnov visited the Taliban's Foreign Ministry in September and met with Amir Khan Muttaqi and invited representatives of the group to participate in the upcoming Moscow Format meeting.

In addition to Russia, representatives of India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the Taliban were present.

None of these countries recognise the Taliban, but they do have diplomatic relations with the group.

The meeting discussed "systematic discrimination and human rights violations by the Taliban" in Afghanistan.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the first day of the UN General Assembly session.

Adela Raz, a former Afghan ambassador to Washington, who attended the meeting, told Afghanistan International that the purpose of the meeting was to review the situation of women in Afghanistan and how the international community supports their rights, especially women working in the business and health sectors.

The joint statement of the EU and UN Women's mission stated that the rights of Afghan women have been significantly reduced, with devastating effects on their access to education, employment and public life.

One of the goals of the meeting was to draw the attention of the international community to the crisis of women's rights in Afghanistan.

"As the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate, this event provides a platform for meaningful dialogue on the international community's efforts to protect and advance their rights," said a joint statement by the EU and UN Women mission ahead of the meeting.

The European Union and UN Women have emphasised that the views of Afghan women should be taken into account in decision-making forums on Afghanistan.

Both organisations also emphasised continued support for Afghan women and girls.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday stressed at a special session focusing on Afghan women that he will never allow the Taliban's restrictive laws to become the norm.

The UN Secretary-General said that women and girls face a deep crisis of repression and gender discrimination in Afghanistan. Referring to the Law on the Promotion of Virtue, he said that with this new law, the Taliban have formalised the exclusion of women from the public sphere.