Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities are set to meet with international envoys in Qatar on Sunday, June 30th and July 1st, in a gathering orchestrated by the United Nations. The talks are presented as a crucial step in engaging with the Taliban government, which has yet to be officially recognized by any state. The agenda includes economic issues and counter-narcotics, but the absence of civil society groups, particularly women’s rights activists, has drawn condemnation from human rights organizations.
Amnesty International’s head, Agnes Callamard, expressed concern, stating that “Caving into the Taliban’s conditions to secure their participation in the talks would risk legitimising their gender-based institutionalised system of oppression.” She added that “Sidelining critical discussions on human rights would be unacceptable and set a deeply damaging precedent.”
The exclusion of women’s rights groups is particularly troubling given the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Islamic law, which has led to severe restrictions on women’s lives. Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban has imposed rules that have been described as “gender apartheid” by the UN. Women have been barred from secondary schools, universities, various jobs, and even public spaces like parks and gyms.
The G7+ countries have expressed their “disappointment” over the lack of human rights on the agenda, and 12 high-ranking women politicians from different countries have condemned the exclusion of women as “outrageous” and a violation of the UN Charter. Afghan activists have called for a boycott of the meeting and organized protests in various countries.
The UN, however, defends the setup, emphasizing that this is not an “inter-Afghan dialogue” and that recognition is not on the table. While the UN hopes for a broader dialogue in the future, this meeting is primarily focused on engagement, a process that, according to Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, will “take time.”
Despite this, concerns persist. Nader Nadery, a senior fellow at the Wilson Center and a former negotiator with the Taliban, cautioned that the international community should not assume the Taliban is willing to engage in future discussions on more contentious issues like women’s rights. He believes the Taliban views each meeting as a separate event rather than a step in a larger process.
The upcoming talks in Doha are a delicate balancing act. While engagement with the Taliban is necessary, it must not come at the expense of human rights, particularly for women. The international community needs to maintain a firm stance on these issues and ensure that any progress made is genuine and not merely a temporary concession by the Taliban.
