US, Taliban Conduct First Official Talks Since Afghanistan Coup

The Taliban has a long history of human rights abuses, and their recent actions have been no different. In recent years, the Taliban has:

• Banned girls from attending school.
• Denied women the right to work outside the home.
• Imposed harsh restrictions on women’s dress and movement.
• Executed people for “crimes” such as adultery and apostasy.
• Tortured and imprisoned political opponents.
• Committed widespread human rights abuses in the course of their military campaigns.

These are just a few of the many human rights abuses committed by the Taliban in recent years. Their actions have caused immense suffering and have had a devastating impact on the lives of millions of people.

Here are some specific examples of human rights abuses committed by the Taliban in recent years:

• In August 2021, the Taliban closed all girls’ schools in Afghanistan.
• In September 2021, the Taliban banned women from working in government jobs, even in United Nation offices.
• In October 2021, the Taliban ordered all women to wear the burqa in public.
• In December 2021, the Taliban imprisoned a woman for speaking out against the Taliban’s restrictions on women’s rights.

The United States and the Taliban recently held official talks in Doha, Qatar, marking the first interaction since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021. 

During the meeting, the US officials raised concerns about the humanitarian crisis in the country, particularly regarding the rights of women, girls, and children.

The talks focused on confidence-building measures, including lifting sanctions, removing travel bans, and returning Afghan central bank assets held abroad. 

The US had frozen around $7 billion in Afghan central bank funds in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York after the Taliban’s takeover, with half of these funds now in a Swiss-based Afghan fund.

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The US delegation expressed their concern about the human rights situation in Afghanistan and urged the Taliban to reverse their policies on detentions, media restrictions, religious practices, and uphold human rights. 

They also called for the ban on education for girls and women to be reversed. Last year, the Taliban had banned secondary education for girls and university education for women, limiting girls’ education to only Class 6.

The talks also discussed the Afghan economy, which has been facing challenges since the Taliban seized power. The US officials met with representatives of the Afghan Central Bank and Ministry of Finance to discuss the state of the economy and banking sector challenges. 

They noted recent data indicating declining inflation and growth in merchandise exports and imports in 2023, expressing openness to further dialogue on economic stabilization.

The discussions aimed to address the urgent humanitarian needs in Afghanistan and support UN agencies and aid organizations providing aid based on humanitarian principles. 

The US also recognized a decrease in poppy cultivation after the Taliban’s ban on the crop, and they expressed openness to continue dialogue on counternarcotics.

The Taliban’s human rights abuses have been widely condemned by the international community. 

The United Nations, the United States, and other countries have called on the Taliban to respect human rights and to allow all Afghans to enjoy their full rights, including the right to education, work, and freedom of expression.

However, the Taliban has so far refused to heed these calls. They have continued to restrict the rights of women and girls, and they have cracked down on dissent. 

It is clear that the Taliban is not interested in respecting human rights. They are only interested in consolidating their power and imposing their own harsh interpretation of Islamic law on the Afghan people.