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Rights groups upset over exclusion of Afghan women at UN-led Doha meeting
Otunbayeva has meanwhile said the Doha meeting would focus on private sector business and counter-narcotics, issues she described as linked to women’s rights.
Afghanistan’s Islamic Emirate government is due to send officials to Qatar next weekend to meet top UN officials and envoys from up to 25 countries for a two-day gathering that rights groups have criticized for not including Afghan women, Reuters reported.
It will be the third such UN-led meeting in Doha, but the first attended by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA).
“Excluding women risks legitimizing the Taliban’s (IEA) abuses and triggering irreparable harm to the UN’s credibility as an advocate for women’s rights and women’s meaningful participation,” Tirana Hassan, executive director at Human Rights Watch, said of the third planned Doha meeting.
UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo, UN special envoy on Afghanistan Roza Otunbayeva, and envoys from various countries are due to meet separately with Afghan civil society groups after meeting with the IEA, the UN has said.
The Doha meetings are “part of a process and not a one-off” and women and civil society continue to be part of it, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Sunday.
“It also aims to encourage the de facto authorities to engage with the international community through a coordinated and structured approach for the benefit of the Afghan people,” Dujarric said.
“Human rights and the rights of women and girls will feature prominently in all the discussions, certainly from the part of the UN,” he added.
Since the IEA returned to power, most girls have been barred from high school and women from universities.
The IEA have also stopped most Afghan female staff from working at aid agencies, closed beauty salons, barred women from parks and curtailed travel for women in the absence of a male guardian.
The IEA have however repeatedly said they respect women’s rights in accordance with Sharia law.
“Sidelining critical discussions on human rights would be unacceptable and set a deeply damaging precedent,” Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard said of the planned Doha meeting.
Otunbayeva has meanwhile said the Doha meeting would focus on private sector business and counter-narcotics, issues she described as linked to women’s rights.
She also said the upcoming meeting had “generated significant expectations that cannot realistically be met in a single meeting.”
“We are trying to establish a process and preserve an important mechanism of consultation. We must be realistic about how much each meeting in this process can deliver, especially at this early stage where confidence and trust are insufficient,” she told the UN Security Council on Friday.
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Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry says it is reviewing reports that the Trump administration plans to deport Afghans through Pakistan, adding that it is consulting relevant stakeholders to find a mutually acceptable way forward.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan made the remarks at a press conference on Friday, saying Islamabad remained committed to close coordination with its allies and partners.
“We will continue to act in accordance with our international obligations and established protocols,” Khan said.
He added that the matter was under consideration and that all relevant aspects were being carefully examined in consultation with concerned stakeholders.
Pakistan-based Bank Alfalah has completed its exit from Afghanistan after 20 years of operations, transferring its local banking business to Ghaznfar Bank, the lender said in a notice to shareholders on Friday.
The bank said the transaction was completed on November 5 after the signing of final agreements, approval from the State Bank of Pakistan and Da Afghanistan Bank, and fulfilment of other required conditions.
The deal allows Bank Alfalah to sell and transfer its operations in Afghanistan to Ghaznfar Bank, following approval from the regulatory authorities in both countries.
“Bank Alfalah has accordingly ceased its banking operations in Afghanistan and will complete the closure of its Afghanistan branches in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements,” the notice said.
Bank Alfalah began operating in Kabul in 2005, offering both conventional and Islamic banking services.
Abdul Haq Wasiq, head of Afghanistan’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI), has said that Daesh uses social media platforms, including Telegram and TikTok, to communicate, secure financial resources and promote ideological diversion.
Wasiq made the remarks at the First SCO Plus Expert Dialogue on Security Issues in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
He said the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), based on its beliefs and convictions, is at the forefront of the fight against Daesh. However, he added that Afghanistan faces serious constraints in dismantling the technical capabilities of the group.
According to Wasiq, technology companies and operators of Telegram and TikTok do not cooperate with Afghanistan in efforts to counter Daesh activities, a situation he said allows the group greater room to operate around the world.
The intelligence chief added that Daesh causes significant civilian casualties each year through its activities in different countries.
The First SCO Plus Expert Dialogue on Security Issues was held in Samarkand on November 5 and 6. Representatives from 24 countries and five international organisations attended the event to discuss counterterrorism, extremism and emerging security threats.
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