To the Participants of the International Meeting in Doha on Afghanistan
Dear Excellencies,
We, the undersigned representatives of civil society and women of Afghanistan from different backgrounds, are writing to voice our serious concerns about the upcoming meeting in Doha, Qatar on 1-2 May. The meeting has been described as a “closed-door gathering featuring special envoys on Afghanistan from various countries” who aim to “clarify expectations” on challenges in Afghanistan, including the Taliban’s restrictions on women, hosted by the United Nations under the chairmanship of Secretary-General António Guterres. We are particularly concerned about the prospect of the meeting opening the door to future international recognition of the Taliban regime, as highlighted in recent comments to the media by UN Deputy Secretary-General Ms. Amina J Mohammed: “We hope that we’ll find those baby steps to put us back on the pathway to recognition [of the Taliban], a principled recognition”.
As Afghan women and members of civil society and media groups, we are outraged that the UN or any of its Member States would consider recognizing the Taliban, a terrorist group whose deeply repressive regime has systematically sought to erase more than half of the population from society. Having denied women and girls almost all their fundamental human rights, the Taliban has become the only regime in the world upholding a system of gender apartheid. Past experience shows that giving into the demands of such regimes by compromising on human rights will only strengthen their grip on power, and prolong the suffering of the people of Afghanistan.
We urge the United Nations to immediately cancel all plans, even if they are “baby steps”, towards recognizing an illegitimate regime that systematically violates the human rights of all people in Afghanistan, and whose actions amount to crimes against humanity on a daily basis against Afghan women and men of all ethnicities.
Instead, the United Nations should guarantee that it fulfills its mandate to ensure that the human rights of all Afghans, in particular women and girls, are respected, protected, and upheld. This should include a strong focus on justice for past and present crimes, by ensuring that the Taliban leadership is held to account for gross human rights violations, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, including the Rome Statute. This must include cooperating fully with the ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court.
The Taliban, and their regional and international supporters, have sought to justify gender apartheid policies against women and girls as reflecting “Afghan culture and customs”. This is completely false; there is nothing in Afghan cultural tradition that calls for eliminating women from society, effectively reducing them to nothing but producing babies. Throughout the history of Afghanistan, women from different regions and ethnic groups have played significant roles as a leader, warriors, writers, poets, and politicians. Nothing can justify the current systematic attempts to strip Afghan women and girls of their rights.
Apart from their attempts to put in place a gender apartheid regime, the Taliban have been responsible for a catalog of human rights violations since seizing power in August 2021.1/2 The regime has committed war crimes in regions where it faces armed resistance, often detaining, torturing or even killing any suspects or their family members. The Taliban have also led a brutal crackdown on any perceived dissent, silencing media and peaceful protests, using violence, torture, and prolonged detention without charge. Furthermore, the regime is also involved in forced evictions and illegal land grabbings in areas inhabited by indigenous people in the northern and central parts of Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, since August 2021, Afghanistan is more than at any time in recent history a safe haven for international terrorist groups, including Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (Daesh). This is evidenced by the recent killing of Al-Qaeda leader Iman AL Zawahiri the Al-Qaeda leader in Kabul, the increased presence of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan in the country’s eastern regions, as well as recent warnings by international intelligence agencies that Daesh are planning international attacks from Afghan soil.
𝐖𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐟𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐡𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐟𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟏-𝟐 𝐭𝐨:
• Ensure that women of Afghanistan are meaningfully represented in all debates, meetings, and conferences concerning our country and our future. Our demand from world leaders is simple: “𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐄, 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐌𝐄!”
• Ensure that women are invited and given the opportunity to speak in any relevant international forum that concerns the people of Afghanistan, particularly women. Women invited must represent a wide section of Afghan society, including protest leaders, civil society members, and women in exile. These representatives must be allowed to deliver strong and uncensored messages about the brutal reality facing women and girls under the Taliban.
• Ensure that all necessary measures are taken to hold Taliban leaders to account for serious crimes against the people of Afghanistan, in particular against women and girls. This must include cooperation with the ICC to bring the Taliban leaders and officials accused of crimes under international law before the Court.
• Ensure that all participants are aware of and take into account the genuine concerns of the people of Afghanistan, including the broad range of crimes by the Taliban such as arbitrary arrests or killings of peaceful protesters, education campaigners, journalists, university professors, and former members of the government and national security forces, as well as war crimes committed in areas where armed resistance against the Taliban is taking place.
• Take steps towards ensuring that “gender apartheid” is recognized by the United Nations and its member states as a crime against humanity in international law, to prevent other oppressive regimes from systematically denying their fundamental rights to people based on their gender.
• Ensure that international sanctions are strengthened and/or imposed on the leaders and officials of the Taliban, such as travel bans and asset freezes, including by re-listing officials on the UN sanction list as relevant.
• Ensure that the UN and international community work with all Afghans to pave the way for an inclusive government, based on the will of the people of Afghanistan, with representation from all ethnic groups as well as of women.
Date: 30-04-2023
