The most prominent figures of the interim government of the Taliban commemorated this Monday the first anniversary of his return to power in Afghanistana country that however has little to celebrate, with a grave crisis that has triggered hunger and a society, especially women, who have seen their rights won in the last two decades recede.
The anniversary celebration took place without fanfare, amid congratulations from officials for what they see as a job well done, during an official event attended by senior Taliban officials.
But the fundamentalists also marked the day with a larger-than-usual deployment of security force patrols in Kabul and the country’s main cities, while a group of women protested the erosion of their rights from a secret location days following a demonstration in the capital was dispersed with shots fired into the air.
“GREAT VICTORY”
The Prime Minister of the interim government, Mullah Hassan Akhundwas the first to celebrate in a statement the “great victory” that led the Taliban to conquer Kabul a year ago todayat the end of a rapid offensive while the last US troops left the country.
During a packed ceremony in Kabul, Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi painted a particularly benign picture of a country in the midst of a deep humanitarian and economic crisis made worse by the freezing of international funds for the country’s reconstruction. .
Muttaqi stated that the “security in the country is assured“He indicated that Afghanistan maintains “open embassies in many countries” and specified that the value of the Afghan currency once morest the dollar is “better than that of neighboring countries.”
In a similar jubilant tone, the deputy prime minister, Abdul Salam Hanafiaffirmed that “for the nation of combatants this is a day of pride” once morest those who “sold the country” to “the invaders”.
A GOVERNMENT WITHOUT INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION
The Taliban took advantage of the international attention of the anniversary to claim the hitherto elusive recognition of the international community and to promise that Afghan soil will not be used once morest other countries, a point that the Defense Minister, Yaqoob Mujahid -son of the founding leader of the Taliban movement, Mullah Omar-, as the prime minister.
This promise of the fundamentalists, key in the agreement reached with the United States before the withdrawal from the country, has recently been damaged by the death in a US operation in Kabul of the leader of Al Qaeda, Ayman al Zawahiriand because of the persistent threat from the Islamic State group.
The interim Taliban government has been widely criticized by the international community for restrictions placed on Afghan womenfrom the obligatory nature of the burqa or other similar clothing that completely covers the face to the obstacles to access to work for women.
One of the decisions most criticized by the international community was the closure of schools for girls between the ages of 12 and 18, despite Taliban promises of reopening.
The main spokesman for the Taliban, Zabiullah Mujahiddenounced during the event that the reports of violations of human and women’s rights “are not correct”, following the line maintained until now by the fundamentalists.
PATROLS AND SECRET DEMONSTRATION
The first anniversary of the Taliban’s rise to power was limited to a handful of official acts and the reinforced presence of security forces in large cities, days before the celebration of Afghanistan’s Independence Day next Thursday.
Faced with the prohibition of demonstrations once morest the Taliban regime, a group of Afghan women decided today to protest from a secret place and spreading images on social networks.
Carrying signs like “The job, freedom and education are our rights” or “We want justice,” the Afghan women called on the international community to pressure the Taliban to stop violating the rights of Afghan women.
AI REVEALED VIOLENCE, IMPUNITY AND BROKEN PROMISES
A year following the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan following the withdrawal of international troops, the humanitarian organization Amnesty International (AI) has documented in a reporte the “flagrant violations of human rights” perpetrated by his regime.
In the document entitled “A year of violence, impunity and false promises”, AI notes that the Taliban restricted the right to education, darkening the future of millions of Afghan girlsmaintains Amnesty International, which also warns that the authorities “subject women to increasing violence”, sometimes as a way to punish their relatives.
Dozens of women have been detained and tortured for participating in peaceful protests to demand their rights, amid growing restrictions that have stripped them of their freedoms, describes the humanitarian organization.
Furthermore, in the past twelve months, AI has received “widespread reports” of taliban soldiers beating and torturing people for considering that they have violated Taliban edicts or those they accuse of working with the previous government.
While it was noted that a few weeks following the Taliban took power, AI was made aware of cases of non-Pashtun Afghans forcibly evicted from their homes and land so that the Taliban might reward their supporters with land seized from other ethnic groups such as the Hazara, Turkmen and Uzbek.
