Search Results for: taliban

On Feb. 11, much of the global community marked the International Day of Women and Girls in Science and Technology. But in Afghanistan, few felt like celebrating. After all, that day was the 874th since girls were banned from attending secondary school studies, and the 415th since universities shut their doors to women. The urgency [...]

Last December, US authorities marked Human Rights Day and the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by imposing a tranche of sanctions against human rights abusers spanning the globe, targeting perpetrators from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. In Afghanistan, two members of the Taliban government were targeted, as announced by a State Department press [...]

On August 15, 2021, Taliban forces seized Kabul, bringing an end to the era of the internationally sponsored Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (IRA), and reviving the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) in its place. While the Taliban’s approach to issues of rights remains unchanged, their control over Afghanistan is virtually unchallenged for now, fostering inevitable [...]

“It has been such a nightmare. You just feel powerless; you can’t comprehend any way to survive it … I long for the return of my calm and tranquil country — a country where children can live in peace.” “Air strikes have been indiscriminately killing people — all kinds of people: children, babies, doctors, journalists; [...]

The resumption of any kind of negotiations or diplomatic ties with the Taliban should come with principles and conditions. Such conditions should be no less than those enshrined in the fundamental principle of human rights and dignity and expected in a multi-ethnic and democratic country. Afghanistan cannot afford to settle for anything less than the [...]

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) voiced its apprehension on Thursday about the Taliban’s recent spike in the arbitrary arrest and detention of women and girls based on non-compliance with the Islamic dress code. Last week the Taliban arrested the first women in Afghanistan for “bad hijab” since they took power in August 2021. [...]

“The Taliban’s new curriculum is all about killing people in the name of Jihad,” a Kabul-based teacher* told me in a recent interview. “I’m not going to teach that material, even if I know it means I will almost certainly lose my job,” the teacher said, citing an early draft of the new curriculum. Upon [...]

Pakistan rejected Monday its designation as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) by the United States State Department over religious freedom concerns in the South Asian country. The US State Department designated Pakistan as a CPC on January 4 following a recommendation from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). The Pakistan Ministry of [...]

The Taliban have arrested women in Afghanistan for wearing “bad hijab” for the first time since coming to power, according to voice notes received Thursday by the AP from a spokesperson from the Taliban government’s Vice and Virtue Ministry. A year after they took power in 2021, the Taliban issued a strict dress code. Spokesperson [...]

So you decided to vacation in the Afghan province of Herat. Who, you may be asking, would voluntarily spend their holidays in Taliban territory? But I ask that you suspend your disbelief and entertain the notion on this choose-your-own adventure journey. You packed your bags and you headed to the airport. The flight goes smoothly, [...]