By Nizamuddin Rezahi in Khaama Press, June 1, 2023
The head of the women’s rights division at Human Rights Watch said, on the one hand, the Taliban are persistently pleading for recognition and inflow of international aid, and on the other hand, they continue to intensify repressing Afghan women and girls.
Heather Barr, interim co-director of the Women’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch on Wednesday said on Twitter that the Taliban are reluctant for meaningful talks.
Reuters news agency has revealed that Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s Prime Minister met with the Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada in southern Kandahar province on May 11.
The group’s supreme leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada is reluctant to interact with the international community, Reuters reported quoting from local sources.
Barr said on Twitter she does not think this meeting signals Taliban interest to engage with the international community. She believes this issue has been raised mostly at a meeting of a senior Qatari official with Hebatullah Akhundzada.
Previously, the Taliban spokesperson had said that Mullah Hassan Akhund, the group’s acting deputy prime minister in a meeting with his Qatari counterpart had urged Qatari officials to play a decisive role in building trust between Afghanistan and the international community.
Over the past 20 months, Taliban leadership has continuously issued restrictive orders against Afghan women and girls’ rights to education and work. In the latest decree, the group has barred female staff from working for the United Nations agencies and aid organizations.
Despite close relations between Qatar and the Taliban, Doha has criticized the gender policies of the Taliban against women. Meanwhile, Qatar’s foreign minister had previously said that the Taliban’s restrictive policies barring women’s education and work are not acceptable for Qatar.
https://www.khaama.com/afghan-authorities-continue-to-intensify-repressing-women-and-girls-hrw/
