In a test of the international community’s willingness to isolate the Taliban, critics say Taliban members restricting women’s right to leave their homes in Afghanistan should at least be barred from leaving the country. The United Nations has imposed extensive sanctions on the Taliban, but the Security Council is due to discuss next week whether it would impose a travel ban on all its leaders as a sign that the Taliban’s path to international recognition, let alone legitimacy, is blocked. as long as it continues its course of removing women from public life and teenagers from secondary education. The travel ban automatically expires on June 20, unless renewed by the UN, and key US government officials not only want it renewed, but extended. However, there is no official US position yet. Currently, only 41 members of the Taliban administration are affected by the travel ban after it was partially suspended three years ago to allow 14 members to participate in peace talks. Heather Barr of the Observatory for Human Rights says at least three people should be banned from traveling: Abdul-Haq Wassiq, the head of the intelligence service. Sheikh Muhammad Khalid Hanafi, head of the ministry for promoting virtue and preventing evil; and Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s top religious leader, who is said to have played a key role in extending the ban on girls’ secondary education. He said: “It is a false dichotomy to suggest that ending the travel ban exemption means abandoning Taliban involvement. “It’s time for governments to turn the consensus that the Taliban’s actions are illegal into coordinated actions that show the Taliban that the people are ready to defend the rights of Afghans, especially women and girls, in a meaningful way.” Former Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström has spoken out in favor of the move, saying: “A long-standing UN travel ban on Taliban leaders would mean the resignation of some of them. Meanwhile, Afghan women are finding it difficult to leave their homes. “The exemption from the travel ban should not be renewed unconditionally: real progress for Afghan women and girls.” Annie Pforzheimer, a former deputy head of the US mission in Kabul, also urged the State Department to act. “The suspension of the travel ban has allowed the Taliban to seek the diplomatic recognition they desire, setting in motion the creeping normalization of an authoritarian and extremist movement that other groups will emulate.” Critics say the Taliban are using foreign visits to mislead diplomats about the Taliban’s possible pluralist course, and it is vital that the international community does not favor the commitment. Top Taliban officials were last seen in St. Petersburg for the international economic forum hosted by Vladimir Putin. Asila Wardak, an Afghan women’s rights activist and former diplomat, said: “We are talking about a travel ban for the Taliban, the real travel ban concerns Afghan women who are barely allowed to leave their homes. “However, the Taliban have all the travel benefits they want.” Subscribe to the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7 p.m. BST In a statement, Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Henrik Thune said: “The exemption from the travel ban is first and foremost a tool to facilitate contact with the de facto authorities. “In our opinion, this is still crucial if we are to influence the trajectory of Afghanistan’s future.” Norway is a member of the United Nations Security Council and holds a fountain pen in the Afghanistan dossier at the UN, so its voice is important. Decrees restricting women’s rights have been issued by the Afghan government. Most recently, on May 17, the Taliban disbanded Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission, cutting off a critical source of support for Afghans facing human rights abuses, including women and girls who are being abused. Nine days later, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan completed his mission, describing the recent measures as “fitting into a model of absolute gender segregation – with the aim of making women invisible to society”. Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, did not comment on the ban in her speech to the UN Human Rights Council, but said: “What we see today in Afghanistan is the institutionalized, systematic oppression of women. “Restricting women’s freedom of movement negatively affects almost every aspect of their lives, including the ability of women and their children to access and participate in health, livelihood and humanitarian services.” The human rights council has not yet decided whether to hold a special session on discrimination against Afghan women, but there is pressure from Afghan civil society to move forward, most likely in the week beginning July 4th.
