UK dispatch: Parliament holds special debate on atrocities against Afghan Hazaras
Last Wednesday the UK Parliament held its first-ever debate dedicated to genocide against the Hazaras, a mainly Shia Muslim community in Afghanistan and Pakistan often targeted for their Asiatic features and Mongolian heritage. In the session, held in the Grand Committee Room of Westminster Hall, Paul Bristow, MP for Peterborough and Chair of the All-Party [...]
The Taliban’s ascension to power in Afghanistan two years ago dealt two significant blows to the nation’s legal system. Firstly, they orchestrated a mass release of prisoners, most of whom were Taliban fighters convicted of severe crimes. This unexpected action placed court personnel who had been involved in their sentencing in immediate danger, making them [...]
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed a bill banning TikTok from the state into law on Wednesday, making Montana the first state within the US to ban the popular social media app. The new law expands upon a December 2022 ban within the state, which prohibited any Montana government employees from using TikTok. In signing the [...]
Interview: Human Rights Lawyer Ewelina U. Ochab on Fighting for Afghanistan's Women Judges, Lawyers
Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab is a lawyer, human rights advocate, and author, as well as a co-founder of the Coalition for Genocide Response. She has collaborated with international and domestic partners to provide legal assistance to women at risk in Afghanistan and has been involved in evacuating 103 women at risk from the country. In [...]
The Montana House of Representatives Friday passed a bill that would ban the use of social media app TikTok within the state in a 54-43 vote. The bill will now be submitted to Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, who must sign the bill for it to become law. The move comes amid increasing scrutiny of the [...]
Persuading the Taliban to Guarantee Education for Afghan Girls and Women
Since gaining power in August 2021, the Afghan Taliban, following a unique normative mixture of Pashtun culture and Islamic law, have closed universities, colleges, and secondary and primary schools to deny education to women and girls. In banning women from higher education, the Taliban education minister argued that female college students do not adhere to [...]
The Canadian government Tuesday confirmed it welcomed 431,645 permanent residents in 2022, representing the largest number of permanent residents welcomed to the country in a single year. Canada has now recorded a record intake of immigrants the past two years in a row after the country announced they welcomed 401,000 permanent residents in 2021. In [...]
G7 foreign ministers condemn Taliban ban on women in domestic and international NGOs
The foreign ministers of G7 nations Thursday called on the Taliban to reverse their recent decision to bar women from working for national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the UK, the US and the EU condemned [...]
UN human rights chief: Taliban policies will have 'terrible, cascading effects' on women's rights
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk Tuesday called on Afghanistan’s de facto authorities to “revoke immediately” their latest policies that target women’s rights. Türk’s comments come in the wake of the Taliban’s ban on women attending university and working in domestic or international NGOs over the past week. Türk stated that that restrictions [...]
Taliban decision to ban women from universities draws global criticism
The Taliban’s announcement that women in Afghanistan would be banned from attending university drew sharp criticism from around the globe Wednesday. The Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, the UK, and the US and the High Representative of the EU released a joint statement condemning the decision. [...]
