Vehicle That Hit Girls In Kabul Belonged To Taliban Official, Say Sources

In the letter, published on Thursday, 18 June, the organisations stressed that any cooperation with the Taliban would lead to the direct or indirect legitimisation of the group’s administration and would endanger the rights and security of Afghans.

The European Union has invited Taliban officials to travel to Brussels for talks on the deportation of Afghan asylum seekers, a move that has prompted a wave of criticism and strong reactions from European lawmakers and human rights organisations.

The letter was issued by 47 civil society and human rights organisations and addressed to Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission; António Costa, president of the European Council; Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief; and Magnus Brunner, the EU commissioner for internal affairs and migration.

The authors of the letter stressed that any cooperation with the Taliban on migration management and the return of asylum seekers raises serious human rights and protection concerns.

The signatories criticised the approach of some EU member states, including Germany, which describe their engagement with the Taliban as being at a “technical-level”, saying this approach conceals the harmful consequences of such contacts.

They stressed that this approach effectively legitimises the Taliban administration, whose officials are accused of widespread and systematic human rights violations and “crimes against humanity, including gender persecution”.

They described a recent initiative by 20 European countries to prioritise the return of undocumented Afghans as “dangerous precedent”, saying vague references to “security risks” fuel the labelling and criminalisation of Afghan asylum seekers and conflict with the principle of non-refoulement in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The letter said some European policymakers have based their actions on discriminatory narratives against Afghan men, an approach the organisations said fuels the spread of hate speech.

In another part of the letter, the civil society organisations objected to the handover of Afghan consulates in Germany and Norway to Taliban representatives and warned of the security risks this poses to Afghan asylum seekers.

According to the organisations, many Afghan asylum seekers, particularly former government employees and human rights defenders, fear that their sensitive information could be handed to the Taliban, putting their own lives and those of their families in Afghanistan at risk.

The letter said Afghan victims, particularly women and girls, have for years been denied meaningful participation in high-level talks on Afghanistan’s humanitarian and human rights crisis and the international community’s response.

The letter also said that facilitating travel by Taliban members to Europe by countries such as Belgium contradicts the European countries’ declared human rights commitments.

Earlier, Belgium’s Foreign Ministry told Afghanistan International, in response to calls for the Taliban’s invitation to Brussels to be withdrawn, that decisions on holding meetings and inviting delegations rest with European institutions.

Laurens Soenen, spokesperson for Belgium’s Foreign Ministry, said European institutions decide which meetings to hold and whom to invite.

Soenen stressed that some of these meetings may include representatives of institutions or regimes that Belgium does not recognise, but their presence in Brussels does not amount to recognition by Belgium or a direct invitation from the country.

The human rights groups stressed that Afghanistan remains unsafe and that its citizens face extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, torture, the systematic repression of women and girls, and a widespread humanitarian crisis. They called for an immediate halt to deportations of Afghan asylum seekers.

They urged the European Union to adhere to the position of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees against returning Afghans and to stop cooperation with the Taliban.

Afghanistan Watch, the Afghanistan Democracy and Development Organisation, the Afghan LGBT Organisation, Rawadari, AsyLex, France terre d’asile, Justice for Iran, Femena, the Civil Society and Human Rights Network, and the Afghan Refugee Experts Network in Europe are among the signatories of the letter.

Recently, Afghans and civil activists in 14 cities around the world voiced support for women’s rights in Afghanistan under the slogan “Education, Work and Freedom” and called for an end to repression and restrictions.

The protesters called on the international community to support Afghan women and demanded an end to the normalisation of relations with the Taliban.

The organisations’ letter said increasing deportations and restrictive policies have left many Afghans stranded in unsafe conditions in third countries. It added that measures in Europe, the United Kingdom and beyond, including visa bans and other travel restrictions, have had severe effects on women and girls, including blocking their access to education.

In recent weeks, two videos have been published showing activities by Taliban opponents in Panjshir. On 25 May, the Afghanistan Green Trend, a group affiliated with former Vice President Amrullah Saleh said it had targeted a vehicle carrying Taliban forces in Panjshir’s Abdullah Khel valley.

The group released a video claiming the military vehicle was transporting Taliban forces to a base in a village in Panjshir.

In another video, said to be linked to a senior anti-Taliban commander, a number of armed men are seen slaughtering a sheep during Eid al-Adha. The location where the video was recorded is unclear.

Sources say the Taliban decided to increase the number of its security checkpoints in Panjshir after the videos were released.

According to the sources, the Taliban has deployed its forces to key areas of the province.

The sources also say the Taliban has resumed search operations in the foothills of Panjshir and has carried out several inspections in recent days.

According to the sources, the Taliban has informed residents of Panjshir that movement restrictions will be in place after 6pm and that no one should leave their homes.

Following the takeover of power by the Taliban on August 15, 2021, Panjshir became one of the most important centres of armed resistance against the group and subsequently faced a heavy Taliban military presence and security pressure.

The presence of National Resistance Front forces in the province has prompted the Taliban to deploy large numbers of fighters, set up security checkpoints, carry out house-to-house search operations, make widespread arrests and impose restrictions on people’s movement.

Reports by international human rights organisations show that residents of Panjshir have repeatedly faced arbitrary arrests, torture, ill-treatment, movement restrictions and collective punishments in recent years.

The European Union warned on Wednesday, 17 June, at a session of the UN Human Rights Council reviewing the annual report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, that the Taliban’s treatment of women and systematic violations of their rights could amount to “gender persecution” and a “crime against humanity” under the Rome Statute.

Criticism of the Taliban Leader’s New Decrees

In the statement, the European Union explicitly described two recent decrees by the Taliban leader, including Decree No. 12 on the criminal procedure regulation for courts and Decree No. 18 on the law on separation of couples, as a cause of serious concern and a factor worsening the situation further.

According to the EU, the decrees severely undermine fundamental principles such as equality before the law, the right to a fair trial, freedom of religion or belief, and protection for women and children.

Another part of the statement, referring to Afghanistan’s membership of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, said the Taliban’s treatment of women could be prosecuted as a crime against humanity.

The European Union called on the Taliban to immediately revoke all its restrictive policies and align its laws with Afghanistan’s international obligations, particularly the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

The statement emphasised that victims and survivors of human rights violations in Afghanistan deserve justice, describing the funding and activation of an “independent investigative mechanism for Afghanistan” as a decisive process in this regard.

The independent investigative mechanism for Afghanistan is a transnational body responsible for collecting, documenting and preserving evidence related to war crimes and human rights violations for future international courts.

Support for Minorities

In the statement, the European Union stressed the need to protect the rights of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, particularly the Hazara community. The international body called for respect for the rule of law, freedom of expression and media freedom in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

At the end of the statement, the EU underlined the need for unhindered access to humanitarian assistance across the country, saying women must be allowed to work and deliver aid to people without any restrictions.

The European Union once again said lasting peace, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan would only be achieved when an Afghan-led political process takes shape with the participation of all sections of society and the meaningful involvement of women.

This is not the first time Western countries have called on the Taliban to form an inclusive government and respect human rights. The Taliban has rejected both demands, describing them as interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs and contrary to its interpretation of Islamic rules.

European countries have repeatedly criticised the Taliban’s human rights record at meetings of the UN Security Council and the Human Rights Council. By contrast, some of the Taliban’s regional partners, including Russia and China, have defended the group against some of these criticisms and emphasised engagement with the Taliban.

In a statement, the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry said the two sides discussed the provision of humanitarian assistance to those in need and the effectiveness of the aid delivery process.

According to the statement, the UN under-secretary-general appreciated the facilities created and the cooperation of the Taliban administration with aid organisations, describing them as important for the effective and timely delivery of assistance.

DiCarlo also briefed the Taliban foreign minister on the latest developments and progress related to the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), and outlined details of the UN’s ongoing efforts in Afghanistan.

The statement said both sides stressed the importance of continuing mutual understanding, expanding constructive engagement and increasing bilateral cooperation in the future.

The conversation took place as the UN Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution extending UNAMA’s mandate until 17 June 2027.

In the resolution, the Security Council stated that UNAMA should continue to implement its mandate in close consultation with all relevant Afghan political actors and stakeholders, particularly the relevant authorities, while supporting the people of Afghanistan and respecting Afghan sovereignty, leadership and ownership.

The resolution also requested the UN secretary-general to conduct a strategic review of UNAMA’s mandate and submit the report to the Security Council by the end of March next year.

According to the sources, the girls were arrested for not wearing clothing that complied with the Taliban’s dress code.

Eyewitnesses and local sources said on Wednesday that Taliban forces took the young women away after detaining them.

At the same time, Najibullah Ali, the Taliban’s security chief for the Herat police command, announced that the group would continue detaining women in the province.

He stressed that the monitoring of women’s dress would continue in Herat “to promote compliance with hijab and raise public awareness”, adding that those who ignore the rules would be arrested.

In recent days, the Taliban have detained several women and girls in Herat for allegedly failing to comply with the group’s dress requirements, a move that has sparked public protests and criticism from activists.

Over the past two weeks, the Taliban have arrested dozens of women in the province for allegedly not wearing a face veil or for failing to follow the group’s clothing regulations. The United Nations has confirmed the detentions.

The arrests of women in Herat and the Taliban’s response to protesters in the Jebrail area have triggered demonstrations in more than 10 countries. Protesters have called for the release of those detained and an end to the enforcement of compulsory dress codes on women and girls.