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UNAMA issues latest rights report, notes ongoing challenges for women, girls and media

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The Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, urged the United Nations Human Rights Council to keep Afghanistan and its people at the forefront of its agenda.

“It is important to hold the Taliban (Islamic Emirate) to account for their policies and actions,” he told the UN rights body this week.

Bennett’s account coincided with the UN mission in Afghanistan’s (UNAMA) latest report on the human rights situation – covering the period from January to March 2024.

In its report, UNAMA said that while the new school year in Afghanistan commenced in April, it did so without the presence of Afghan girls in high schools.

The report also stated that an invitation to attend a ceremony in Kabul marking the commencement of the new academic year, issued to media by the Ministry of Education, specifically instructed women journalists not to attend, citing a “lack of proper place[s]” for women.

UNAMA did however point out that while they still received reports of the enforcement of the hijab instruction,such incidents significantly decreased after January 2024 with the cessation of the large-scale enforcement actions which took place between December 2023 and January 2024.

On the issue of freedom of media, UNAMA said the situation for journalists was “mixed”.

“Some journalists have reported an improvement in access to information with the appointment of spokespersons for de facto line departments at provincial level and the establishment of WhatsApp groups by some de facto entities to distribute information.”

However, journalists and media workers continue to operate in a challenging environment, with the media facing significant financial challenges, in addition to a range of restrictions imposed by the Islamic Emirate and the risk of arbitrary detentions.

Between January and March, at least four journalists were arrested, including one from Japan’s Kyodo news agency. All have since been released.

UNAMA stated however that threats to former government officials and former ANDSF members, including arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and ill-treatment and extrajudicial killings, continue to be reported to UNAMA Human Rights, despite the general amnesty announced by the Islamic Emirate.

On the death penalty and corporal punishment, UNAMA reported that the Islamic Emirate carried out three public executions of individuals sentenced to the death penalty.

“In all three instances, the de facto authorities stated that the death penalty was implemented in accordance with a sentence upheld by three de facto Courts (District, Appeal and Supreme) and approval by the Taliban leader,” the report read.

In response to the UNAMA report, Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman of the Islamic Emirate, said that no one’s rights have been lost in Afghanistan, but Sharia rights of men and women in Afghanistan are secured and people have access to their rights more so now than before.

Mujahid called the UNAMA report baseless and said the report was not accurate.

Regarding the arrests of former government officials, Mujahid says no one has been arrested and there are no documents in this regard.

“In general, UNAMA’s reports are always full of propaganda and are meant to destroy public minds, and they do not have any documents to prove their claims,” added Mujahid.

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Pakistan delivered ‘strong and clear message’ to IEA: PM Shehbaz Sharif

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Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday once again raised concerns that militant activities continue to emanate from the Afghan territory.

“It is our earnest desire to live in peace with them (Afghanistan) for all times to come. Unfortunately, despite our best and sincere efforts, terrorist activities continue to emanate from Afghan territory,” he said during said at a military academy.

Recalling Deputy PM Ishaq Dar’s recent visit to Kabul, Shehbaz Sharif asserted: “We shall continue our efforts to have better relations and understanding with our brotherly and neighbourly country Afghanistan.

He said that Pakistan has “delivered a strong and clear message” to the Islamic Emirate that while it desire peaceful neighbourly relations with Kabul, this cannot happen as long as the Afghan soil is being used by militants to attack Pakistanis.

Pakistani officials have repeatedly claimed that the attacks in the country have their roots in Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate, however, has denied the allegations, stressing that it will not allow Afghanistan’s territory to be used against the security of other countries.

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U.S. aid cuts are impacting millions of Afghans: IRC

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For 23 million Afghans, U.S. aid funding has been a critical lifeline, but that support is now in jeopardy, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) aid organization said on Friday.

Funding cuts are already having devastating impacts on the country’s most vulnerable communities, especially women and children, IRC said in an article.

IRC said that due to cuts in U.S, aid funding, it has been forced to suspend some of our life-saving services in Afghanistan.

“As a result, over 700,000 people, including refugees and displaced families, will lose access to essential humanitarian services from IRC programming alone,” IRC said, “Life-saving treatment for more than 15,000 young children suffering from malnutrition has been disrupted.”

The organization noted that Afghanistan is facing a severe humanitarian crisis, with over 22.9 million people in urgent need of aid.

“Decades of conflict, a prolonged economic crisis, and environmental disasters have pushed millions into poverty and left more than one in three Afghans food insecure,” it said.

IRC said that the situation is especially dire for vulnerable groups, including over 3 million children and 1.2 million pregnant or nursing mothers suffering from acute malnutrition.

Across the country, more than 14 million people have limited or no access to health care. Communities are losing access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation services, creating a higher risk of disease outbreaks that could potentially spread across international borders, it said.

IRC warned that without renewed funding, countless families risk falling deeper into hunger, illness and poverty.

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IEA’s condemnation of Kashmir attack ‘encouraging’: Khalilzad

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Former US special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, said on Friday that the Islamic Emirate’s condemnation of the attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir was an “encouraging development”.

“In an encouraging development, the Taliban (IEA) have sided with the tourist victims in Kashmir and have denounced this terror attack,” Khalilzad said on X.

Twenty-six people were killed in a shooting in a tourist area in Pahalgam, Kashmir, on Tuesday.

The attack has escalated tensions between India and Pakistan, with the two countries taking measures against each other.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan condemned the attack and said that such incidents threaten the security and stability of the region.

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