Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities are to meet international envoys in Qatar tomorrow and on Monday for talks presented by the UN as a key step in an engagement process, but they have been condemned by rights groups for sidelining Afghan women.
The Taliban government has not been officially recognized by any state and the international community has wrestled with its approach to Afghanistan’s new rulers.
When the UN, about 25 envoys and a Taliban delegation meet in Doha, the agenda is to include economic issues and counternarcotics, but the exclusion of civil society groups, including women’s rights advocates, has sparked an outcry.
“Caving in to the Taliban’s conditions to secure their participation in the talks would risk legitimizing their gender-based institutionalized system of oppression,” Amnesty International secretary-general Agnes Callamard said in a statement. “Sidelining critical discussions on human rights would be unacceptable and set a deeply damaging precedent.”
Taliban authorities were excluded from the first talks in May last year. They refused an invitation in February, insisting on being the only Afghan representatives at the official meeting, to the exclusion of civil society groups.
In this round, that condition has been met.
The UN and international delegations would have the chance to meet with civil society representatives, including women’s rights groups, on Tuesday next week, after the close of the main meetings.
Since returning to power in 2021, Taliban authorities have enforced rules based on Islamic law, which they have said ensure all citizens’ rights.
Women have borne the brunt of restrictions the UN has labeled “gender apartheid.”
They have been pushed out of public life, including bans from secondary schools, universities, some jobs, as well as public parks and gyms.
In a letter to the UN, member nations of the Group of Seven Plus said that they were “disappointed” over the lack of human rights on the agenda.
An open letter from 12 high-ranking female politicians called the exclusion of women “outrageous” and out of step with the UN Charter.
Afghan rights advocates have urged invitees to boycott the meeting and called for protests in multiple countries.
The Taliban authorities had warned shortly after announcing that they would attend the talks that changes to the agenda could affect their decision.
UN Undersecretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo is to chair the talks.
She defended the setup, saying: “This is not an inter-Afghan dialogue.”
“I would hope we could get to that someday, but we’re not there,” she told reporters in New York.
DiCarlo said that the talks were a positive step in a process of engagement that would “take time.”
“This is not a meeting about recognition. This is not a meeting to lead to recognition,” she said. “Engagement doesn’t mean recognition.”
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