Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada says that the previous governments in Afghanistan did not pay attention to women's rights, while women have been given better rights in his government.
The Taliban chief has claimed in a rare audio message that his government, which has kept girls and women out of schools and the workplace, has ensured women's rights better than any previous government.
Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which has been led by the Taliban since 2021, added that his government does not force women and widows into marriage, a claim that contradicts the statements of women social workers on the ground.
According to the Afghan Broadcasting Agency 'Talwa News', Hibatullah Akhundzada said in his audio message released on Thursday: 'We have issued six principle decrees regarding women's rights. Previous governments never gave such rights to women. We said that forced marriage of women is not permissible, dowry should be paid to brides, women should not be forced into marriage and widows should not be forced to marry. We give women a share in the inheritance.'
He claimed that so far the Taliban have not implemented the Islamic punishment system of 'hudud' which includes amputation, flogging, stoning and death penalty for crimes considered serious. These punishments were common during the first Taliban regime in the 1990s.
He said in an audio message from Kandahar: 'Tomorrow we will enforce the statute of limitations and women will be publicly stoned. Tomorrow we will publicly flog (criminals) under the statute of limitations. All these are against democracy. For this you will need to fight and struggle.'
Hibatullah Akhundzada claimed that previous governments in Afghanistan did not pay attention to women's rights.
However, the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch has said that the reality is the opposite of what the Taliban leaders are claiming, as the number of forced marriages has increased since the group came to power in August 2021.
Heather Barr, associate director of the women's rights division at Human Rights Watch, said, "As always, we must look at the Taliban's actions, not their words—especially since we have given them access to women's rights." have repeatedly seen outrageous lies about their approach.'
According to him: 'We know from the ground facts that there are confirmed reports of a serious increase in child and forced marriages after the Taliban took power.'
"We also know that widows and women in general have almost no access to justice, so whatever rights they might have on the document are practically meaningless," she told The Independent. '
On August 13, 2022, a few days before the completion of one year of the Taliban government in Afghanistan, Afghan women demonstrated in Kabul in favor of employment, human rights and freedom of employment (AFP).
He added that the Taliban see women and girls as the property of their male relatives and will not tolerate any system that prevents men from arbitrarily over their 'owned' women and girls. .
Barr points out that these claims are hardly surprising because one of the first things the Taliban did after taking power was to systematically dismantle the entire system, including shelters and special laws that protect women. were created to protect against gender-based violence.
These included social services for special courts and prosecution units, and indeed the 2009 Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Maryam Maruf Irwin, an activist working for Afghan women 's rights, shared photos of a 15-year-old girl's wedding with an elderly man and said, "The clear statements of the Taliban from the mouth of Hibatullah Akhundzada completely ignore these rights." style and lead to thousands of crimes against women.'
He affirmed that nothing happened for women during the Taliban regime. He further said that women are prohibited from traveling without Muharram. Women are still being forced to wear hijab. These measures are a clear violation of women's rights and have been widely condemned.
Maruf Arun, head of the Afghanistan Women and Children's Strengthening Welfare Organization and the Purple Saturdays Movement, said: 'This can only trick the international community and the UN into negotiating with this group. All international stakeholders and UN officials in Afghanistan should take a close look at how much the crimes of this 'barbaric group' have increased day by day.'
Afghan journalist and editor-in-chief of Rukh Shana, a news website reporting on Afghanistan, Zahra Joya says that she has reports of Taliban men getting married not only for the second time but also for the third time.
He told The Independent: 'We have sufficient documentation to substantiate this claim. Not that the Taliban have done much good on women's rights. Their words are completely opposite to their actions. As a journalist and as a woman I am always in touch with people, this is a complete lie.'
He added: 'They are arresting women, they are forcing women to stay at home, they are closing doors to education and employment, even a place to breathe fresh air. not even. All I have to say is that the entire leadership of the Taliban is lying.'
In September 2021, a month after the withdrawal of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan after two decades of war, the Taliban announced that girls were barred from education beyond the sixth grade. He extended this academic ban to universities in December 2022.
The Taliban have rejected international condemnation and warnings that the restrictions (on women) would make it almost impossible for them to be recognized as the country's legitimate government.
Mutual bombing, What is the story of the conflict between Iran and Pakistan? What are the limits of its escalation?
As the storms of unrest continue to sweep the Middle East since the start of the bloodiest Israeli aggression on Gaza on October 7, recent days have witnessed signs of the eruption of a new conflict that sharply complicates matters in the Middle East and elsewhere.In recent days, Pakistan and Iran have launched strikes on each other's territories in an unprecedented escalation of hostilities between the two neighbors, which share a troubled border extending about 900 kilometers, with the Pakistani province of Balochistan on the one hand, and the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan on the other.
The exchange of air strikes between Iran and Pakistan, which resulted in the deaths of at least 11 people, represents a major escalation in the long-fraught relations between the two neighbors. But the question now is: “Why would Tehran and Islamabad choose to strike the rebels on each other’s territory instead of their own?”, taking into account the risk of a broader conflagration.
The origin of the story
Long-standing, low-level insurgent operations on both sides of the border have caused frustration for both countries, and the obvious targets of the strikes (Iran on Tuesday and Pakistan's response on Thursday) have been insurgent groups aiming for Balochistan's independence for ethnic Baloch areas in Balochistan province. Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The two countries have long been fighting militants in the restive Baloch region along the largely lawless border, where smugglers and militants roam freely. Both countries are suspected of supporting each other, or at least behaving leniently toward some groups operating on the other side of the border.
But while the two countries share a common separatist enemy, it is unusual for either side to attack militants on the other's territory.
Jaish al-Adl, the Sunni separatist group targeted by Iran on Tuesday, is also believed to be operating from Pakistan, launching attacks on Iranian security forces. The Baloch Liberation Army, which was founded in 2000 and has launched attacks against Pakistani security forces and Chinese infrastructure projects, is suspected of hiding in Iran, according to the Associated Press .
Iranian messages
The relationship between Iran and Pakistan has long been volatile, but these blows are likely caused by internal dynamics. Tehran is facing increasing pressure to take some kind of action after the deadly attack launched by the terrorist organization ISIS earlier this month, as well as the targeting of its interests in Iraq and Syria and the bombing of its Houthi allies in Yemen.
This week, Iran launched missile strikes on three different countries this week: Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan. On Monday, Iran launched missiles that it said targeted ISIS terrorists in Syria in response to a bombing that killed dozens during a memorial ceremony for military commander Qassem Soleimani in central Iran on January 3. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it was a use of a precision-guided missile with a range of about 900 miles, meaning it could also reach Israel, according to the Wall Street Journal .
On the same day, Iranian strikes on Iraq hit what Iran said were Israeli spy sites, which Iraq denies.
The strikes also showed how Iran could target any target in the region if it chose to do so. "It's a message to the United States and Israel," said Joel Rayburn , a former US special envoy to Syria. "It demonstrates (Iran's) willingness to engage directly rather than through proxies."
In contrast, the Pakistani attack on Thursday served a domestic purpose, according to analysts. “The government and the army have been under tremendous pressure (since Tuesday),” said Abdullah Khan of the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies in Islamabad. “The public perception of a strong military is no longer what it used to be, so it had to respond.”
Is the conflict expanding?
The exchange of strikes sparked a diplomatic row, with Pakistan recalling its ambassador from Iran and suspending all high-level visits from its neighbour, while Iran on Thursday demanded an "immediate explanation" from its neighbour, Tasnim reported.
Subsequently, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan made phone calls with his counterparts in Iran and Pakistan. He then said that neither country wanted to escalate tensions further.
Speaking to Newsweek , Arif Rafiq, president of New York-based Middle East and South Asia political and security consultancy Vezir, said: “Neither country seeks an interstate war on their shared border. They face threats of greater strategic magnitude from elsewhere.” He added: "Therefore, both Iran and Pakistan have a clear interest in finding a ceiling for this small conflict and a path towards de-escalation."
While experts say that the larger regional conflict may have encouraged Iran to be more proactive in pursuing targets outside its borders, especially since “the United States is walking a tightrope between reducing the escalation of hostilities and displaying its military power to deter further moves by Iran,” according to what was reported. CNN American network .