Afghanistan dispatches: EU offers Taliban humanitarian aid while encouraging more inclusive government Dispatches
ErikaWittlieb / Pixabay
Afghanistan dispatches: EU offers Taliban humanitarian aid while encouraging more inclusive government

Law students and lawyers in Afghanistan are filing reports with JURIST on the situation there after the Taliban takeover. Here, a Staff Correspondent for JURIST in Kabul comments on recent EU negotiations with the Taliban government over humanitarian aid and government inclusivity.  For privacy and security reasons, we are withholding our Correspondent’s name. The text has been only lightly edited to respect the author’s voice.

EU Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas Nicholson, accompanied by a delegation from the European Commission, met with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mutaqi  and a number of Taliban officials for two days in Doha, Qatar on Monday. This meeting was aimed at allowing EU offices in Afghanistan to continue aid to the poor in Afghanistan.

In this meeting, the EU envoys announced conditions for humanitarian and European aid to the Taliban government. The Taliban said the talks called on the European Union to separate humanitarian issues from political considerations, and stressed that progress could be made through “cooperation, not pressure”. This – according to my understanding – means that the Taliban want to receive humanitarian aid without the aid-providers setting any terms and conditions for it. But so far, we have not seen any practical plan by the Taliban through which this foreign aid could be managed and distributed to the needy in the country. More importantly, the Taliban are not disclosing any information on how  previous humanitarian aid was distributed by them. There is no official report, statement, and/or clarification on who actually benefited from the aid that entered the country in the past three months.

On the other hand, the EU Commission has called on the Taliban to take swift, meaningful and tangible steps towards an inclusive government that reflects the richness of Afghan society and represents ethnic, political and religious minorities with women and men in senior positions. The EU delegation stressed that a minimal European presence in Kabul does not mean recognition of the Taliban government.

The European Commission added that such aid (“humanitarian and more”) is provided exclusively through international and non-governmental organizations, using the best possible delivery mechanisms. EU assistance is said to provide essential services such as education and health and livelihoods, as defined by European standards, including equal access to education at all levels for girls and boys in line with international standards.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid tweeted that during a meeting between Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mottaqi and the Taliban delegation on Sunday, they announced the continuation of the European Union’s humanitarian office in Kabul and that the Taliban is working to ensure its security.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Fyodor Dostoevsky sentenced to death

Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky was sentenced to death on November 16, 1849 over his involvement in the progressive Petrashevsky Circle of intellectuals. Dostoevsky and his codefendants were scheduled to be executed on December 22 of that year, but their execution was stayed by Tsar Nicholas I after the execution ritual had been carried out. Dostoevsky was sent to Siberia instead to serve a four-year sentence. Learn more about the mock execution of Dostoevsky.

Canada executed Metis leader for treason

On November 16, 1885, the Canadian government executed Metis leader Louis Riel for high treason in the wake of the "Northwest Rebellion" that had pitted the Metis (descendants of French traders and native tribes) in what is now Saskatchewan against Canadian troops. Although Riel has lately been rehabilitated as an Indigenous francophone patriot of the Canadian West, his trial and execution remain sore points between English and French Canada.

US President Nixon signs Trans-Alaska Pipeline Act

On November 16, 1973, US President Richard Nixon signed the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Act into law. In addition to creating an oil pipeline across the state, the Act also quashed all environmental-legal challenges regarding its construction.