JURIST EXCLUSIVE – Law students and lawyers in Afghanistan are filing reports with JURIST on the situation there after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban. Here, a lawyer in Kabul offers his personal observations and perspective on the recent regional meeting on Afghanistan convened in Moscow by neighboring states concerned about the situation in the country. For privacy and security reasons we are withholding our correspondent’s name and institutional affiliation. The text has been only lightly edited to respect the author’s voice.
A true inclusive government is what Russia appears to expect from the Taliban, but there will be no recognition yet. An international meeting held about Afghanistan in Moscow on October 20, 2021 has led to pressures that the Taliban should respect human rights and the achievements made in the country in the last two decades. Countries such as Iran, Pakistan, China, India, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia have meanwhile made it clear that they will respect Afghanistan’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.
The above countries have not made any statement concerning official recognition of the Taliban but these countries view them as the new Afghanistan administration. However, these countries have also made it clear that the Taliban’s official recognition shall be subject to the establishment of a government in which all political and social parties are included.
Prior to this meeting, the Taliban made a number of statements indicating that the Moscow meeting for them is very necessary and important and their official recognition is one of the main topics in the agenda. However, it seemed from the meeting that Russia is very concerned about what Afghanistan’s neighbors, especially Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and others think about the presence of a militant group in power and is not considering official recognition of the Taliban at the moment.
The collective concern arises because according to the Russians, more terrorists including ISIS are coming to Afghanistan from Iraq and Syria these days. The Russians even went further and have said that since the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan nearly 2,000 ISIS members came to Afghanistan from Iraq and Syria.
While the meeting emphasized that the Taliban should not harm its neighboring countries, respect human rights, and establish a true inclusive government, the Taliban on the other hand was and is more concerned about their official recognition.
As a result, no Taliban leader cares and/or has any practical plan to face the current humanitarian crisis in the country. They have not even talked about how they are planning to manage financial or non-financial assistance in the country. However, they continue their previously imposed restrictions on women’s education, media, and women’s work, etc. The Taliban beat up some reporters in Kabul yesterday while they gathered to report a demonstration by women asking for their right to education, work, and etc.
The Taliban’s deputy to the Prime Minister was asked about the women rights. He noted how many countries have women in their cabinet, and how many women are presidents and prime ministers in the world. This means that women rights are still a concern within the Taliban leadership in Kabul.
The Moscow meeting also called on the UN to convene a donor meeting regarding Afghanistan to assist this country with post-war reconstruction. The Russians have stated that they will send humanitarian aid to Afghanistan to prevent a humanitarian disaster in this country. Certainly the international community wants to ensure that Afghanistan does not become home for Al-Qaeda, and other terrorist groups.
