Kinder, Gentler Taliban Shut Out Afghan Women From U.N. Conference

AP Photo/Kathy Gannon

The United Nations proves yet again that it is without a shred of credibility, especially when it comes to the rights of women.

Capitulating to terrorists isn't a good look. The United Nations is holding a conference on Afghanistan in Doha beginning on June 30. It is scheduled to discuss the international community's approach to Afghanistan. Women's rights are not on the agenda. Also, the Taliban is demanding that Afghan women be shut out from participating in the conference. 

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Human rights groups say that this is a betrayal of Afghan women and girls. Newsflash - the Taliban don't care. Since the Taliban took over in August 2021, when Joe Biden's disastrous withdrawal from the country took place, the Taliban have brought the bad old days back for women and girls in Afghanistan. 

 Women and girls have been restricted in all areas of their lives. Access to education has been cut off, women are not allowed to work, and they are not allowed in public spaces like parks. Women are required to wear hijabs in public. They can only be seen in public if they are accompanied by a male relative. In March the Taliban announced they would reintroduce public flogging and stoning women for adultery. 

A country that refuses to educate half of its population will not survive and prosper

The Taliban did not participate in UN talks earlier this year, with the UN chief António Guterres saying at the time that the group presented a set of conditions for its participation that “denied us the right to talk to other representatives of the Afghan society” and were “not acceptable”.

Tirana Hassan, executive director at Human Rights Watch, said: “Excluding women risks legitimising the Taliban’s abuses and triggering irreparable harm to the UN’s credibility as an advocate for women’s rights and women’s meaningful participation.”

In trying to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table now, the UN was giving in to their demands to exclude women’s rights, said the former Afghan minister of women’s affairs Sima Samar.

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So, to avoid the absence of the Taliban again for this conference, the U.N. decided to appease the terrorists who run Afghanistan. That's despicable, but that's the United Nations. 

Habiba Sarabi, another former minister of women’s affairs in Afghanistan and the country’s first female governor, said the international community was prioritising engagement with the Taliban over women’s rights.

“Unfortunately, the international community wants to deal with the Taliban, and that is why their own agenda has always been more important to them than the women of Afghanistan, democracy, or anything else,” she said.

Heather Barr, from Human Rights watch, said: “What is happening in Afghanistan is the most serious women’s rights crisis in the world and the idea that the UN would convene a meeting like this and not discuss women’s rights and not have Afghan women in the room is beyond belief.

“The only plausible explanation is that they’re doing this to get the Taliban to the table, but for what? Already, three years of diplomatic engagement has produced nothing and all this does is set an appalling precedent, emboldens and legitimises the Taliban and hands them a huge political win. It is a betrayal not just of Afghan women but all women around the world.”

The United States and other countries refuse to acknowledge the Taliban as the official government of Afghanistan. That denies them some financial aid and other goodies but they don't care. The Biden administration is sending American taxpayer money to the Taliban anyway. It's despicable. But, it's the Biden administration. Sending American money to terrorists doesn't seem to bother them. Look at the billions of dollars the administration has freed up for Iran.

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Biden was warned that this would happen if he botched the military withdrawal from Afghanistan. He didn't care. Remember that when you hear a Biden surrogate say that Joe Biden is a big supporter of women. It's just another lie. 


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