Security Council- Joint Media Stakeout: Women, Peace and Security (Afghanistan) 10.03.2025

We, Denmark, France, Greece, Guyana, Panama, Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and the United Kingdom, also Security Council signatories of the Statement of Shared Commitments on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), reiterate our strong condemnation of the Taliban’s continued and systemic gender discrimination and increased gender-based violence, which may amount to gender persecution.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the 25th anniversary of Resolution 1325, which established the women, peace and security agenda. In keeping with the ten UN Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security, Member States have long pledged to uphold all women’s rights as human rights, and women’s participation in all efforts to maintain peace and security.

Yet today, the women and girls of Afghanistan are erased from public life, and their voices are silenced. The Taliban has issued more than 80 decrees and directives specifically targeting the autonomy, rights, and daily lives of women and girls.

In August 2024, the Taliban issued the so-called “Law on the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice”. In December 2024, the Taliban suspended women and girls’ access to education in both private and public medical institutions. This came on the heels of the Taliban’s decision banning women from working for the United Nations and non-governmental organizations in Afghanistan, and severe restrictions on women’s freedom of movement and freedom of expression.

Together, these unacceptable and unjustifiable measures aim to institutionalize a system of gender-based discrimination, persecution, and oppression.

We condemn, in the strongest terms, these policies and we call on the Taliban to immediately cease and reverse their ongoing systematic violations of human rights, particularly the discriminatory policies and practices that violate the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all women and girls. We further reject any attempts to silence or threaten Afghan civil society representatives and women human rights defenders.

The Taliban must respect Afghanistan’s international obligations and commitments, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

We welcome steps to hold the Taliban accountable for the widespread and institutionalized violations of women’s and girls’ human rights. We note, among other initiatives, the application of the International Criminal Court prosecutor for arrest warrants against two senior Taliban leaders, and the commitment to pursue accountability for gender-based crimes, including gender persecution.

The Security Council has made clear, including through resolutions 2593 (2021) and 2681 (2023), that the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of all Afghan women and girls, in all spheres of life, is essential to peace, stability, and prosperity in Afghanistan. We call for their full participation in Afghanistan’s future and long-term development, and in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security, as well as in all diplomatic efforts such as the UN-led Doha process and the recently established Working Groups, and the Central Asian Women Leader’s Caucus.

We reaffirm our support for the continued presence of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and other UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes across Afghanistan in support of the Afghan people, including women and girls. We underline that all Member States and UN agencies, including UNAMA, must work to promote a coherent approach to upholding and advocating for women’s and girls’ rights in Afghanistan. We further express our support for renewing UNAMA’s mandate in full.

https://dkonunsc.dk//statements/123

Statement of ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC: Applications for arrest warrants in the situation in Afghanistan

Statement: 23 January 2025

Today, I can announce that my Office has filed two applications for warrants of arrest before Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court in the Situation in Afghanistan. These filings have benefited from the contributions of our dedicated Afghanistan Unified Team under the supervision of Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan, and multiple experts, including Special Adviser on Gender and Other Discriminatory Crimes Professor Lisa Davis.

Since the 31 October 2022 decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber to authorise the resumption of my Office’s investigation, after a period of deferral, my Office has been independently and impartially examining alleged crimes committed against Afghan civilians.

After a thorough investigation and on the basis of evidence collected, my Office submits that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the Supreme Leader of the Taliban, Haibatullah AKHUNDZADA, and the Chief Justice of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”, Abdul Hakim HAQQANI, bear criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds, under article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute.

My Office has concluded that these two Afghan nationals are criminally responsible for persecuting Afghan girls and women, as well as persons whom the Taliban perceived as not conforming with their ideological expectations of gender identity or expression, and persons whom the Taliban perceived as allies of girls and women. This persecution was committed from at least 15 August 2021 until the present day, across the territory of Afghanistan.

This ongoing persecution entails numerous severe deprivations of victims’ fundamental rights, contrary to international law, including the right to physical integrity and autonomy, to free movement and free expression, to education, to private and family life, and to free assembly.

These severe deprivations of fundamental rights were also committed in connection with other Rome Statute crimes. Perceived resistance or opposition to the Taliban was, and is, brutally repressed through the commission of crimes including murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, enforced disappearance, and other inhumane acts.

These are the first applications for arrest warrants in the Situation in Afghanistan. My Office will file further applications for other senior members of the Taliban soon.

These requests for warrants of arrest are based on diverse evidence, including expert and witness testimonies, official decrees, forensic reports, statements by the suspects themselves and other Taliban representatives, and audio-visual material. Our multi-disciplinary investigative team screened and interviewed potential witnesses, and identified investigative leads, experts and cooperation partners. To ensure that the gender dimension of the alleged crimes is properly addressed, the Office has integrated gender experts in its investigative team, along with country experts and psycho-social experts.

In making these applications, my Office seeks to demonstrate that our commitment to pursue accountability for gender-based crimes, including gender persecution, remains an absolute priority.

These applications recognise that Afghan women and girls as well as the LGBTQI+ community are facing an unprecedented, unconscionable and ongoing persecution by the Taliban. Our action signals that the status quo for women and girls in Afghanistan is not acceptable. Afghan survivors, in particular women and girls, deserve accountability before a court of law.

My Office further submits that the Taliban’s interpretation of Sharia should not, and may not be used to justify the deprivation of fundamental human rights or the related commission of Rome Statute crimes.

In making these applications, I wish to acknowledge the remarkable courage and resilience of Afghan victims and witnesses who cooperated with my Office’s investigations. I am grateful for the invaluable support for this investigation from Afghan civil society, and from the Office’s partners from various national authorities and international organisations.

The judges of the International Criminal Court will now determine whether these applications for arrest warrants establish reasonable grounds to believe that the named individuals committed the alleged crimes. If the judges issue the warrants, my Office will work closely with the Registrar in all efforts to arrest the individuals. As in all situations, I request States Parties to fully cooperate with the Court and help it in enforcing any judicial order.

My Office’s investigation in the Situation in Afghanistan continues. We pursue our investigation into alleged crimes by individual members of the Taliban and the Islamic State – Khorasan Province. As I have underlined since taking office, Afghan victims and survivors have suffered injustice for too long. We remain unwavering in our commitment to ensure that they are not forgotten, and to demonstrate through our work, through the effective and impartial application of international law, that all lives have equal value.

https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/statement-icc-prosecutor-karim-aa-khan-kc-applications-arrest-warrants-situation-afghanistan

Nowruz photo - Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the UN in New York

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NOWRUZ CMYK (1)Statement by H.E. Mr. Naseer Ahmed Faiq, Permanent Representative of Afghanistan Mission to the United Nations

UN Nowruz Celebration, March 18, 2025

Your Excellency Madam Deputy Secretary-General, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, honored guests,

Happy Nowruz to all! For over 3,000 years, Nowruz has marked not just the arrival of spring, but the renewal of hope and the triumph of light over darkness.

In Afghanistan, Nowruz holds profound cultural significance. It is a time when families gather to clean their homes, prepare special dishes, visit elders, and share in the joy of new beginnings.

From the magnificent Guli Surkh festival in Mazar-i-Sharif to the planting of sabzeh across our homes, Nowruz traditions reflect our deep connection to nature’s cycles and our ancestral heritage.

Today, as we celebrate this ancient festival at the United Nations, we are reminded that Nowruz transcends national boundaries. It unites diverse peoples across Central, Western, and South Asia in a shared cultural expression of hope and renewal.

This is the very spirit that the United Nations embodies – finding common ground among diverse traditions.

For Afghanistan, Nowruz carries special resonance today. It reminds us that after every winter, no matter how harsh, spring inevitably follows. It teaches us resilience and patience – values deeply embedded in the Afghan spirit. As we face ongoing challenges, the message of Nowruz inspires us to persevere with optimism.

In closing, I wish everyone here Nowruz Mubarak – may this new year bring peace, prosperity, and harmony to all nations. May the spirit of Nowruz – of renewal, reconciliation, and respect for nature – guide our collective efforts at the United Nations throughout the coming year. Thank you.

Al Qaeda Is Back—and Thriving—in Afghanistan

The architects of 9/11 are profiting from gold and gem mines in the Taliban-led country.

MARCH 22, 2024, 1:59 PM

By Lynne O’Donnell, a columnist at Foreign Policy and an Australian journalist and author.

Al Qaeda is back to its old tricks in Afghanistan. Much as it did before masterminding the 9/11 attacks, the terrorist group is running militant training camps; sharing the profits of the Taliban’s illicit drug, mining, and smuggling enterprises; and funneling the proceeds to affiliated jihadi groups worldwide.

An unpublished report circulating among Western diplomats and U.N. officials details how deeply embedded the group once run by Osama bin Laden is in the Taliban’s operations, as they loot Afghanistan’s natural wealth and steal international aid meant to alleviate the suffering of millions of Afghans.

The report was completed by a private, London-based threat analysis firm whose directors did not want to be identified. A copy was provided to Foreign Policy and its findings verified by independent sources. It is based on research conducted inside Afghanistan in recent months and includes a list of senior al Qaeda operatives and the roles they play in the Taliban’s administration.

To facilitate its ambitions, al Qaeda is raking in tens of millions of dollars a week from gold mines in Afghanistan’s northern Badakhshan and Takhar provinces that employ tens of thousands of workers and are protected by warlords friendly to the Taliban, the report says. The money represents a 25 percent share in proceeds from gold and gem mines; 11 gold mines are geolocated in the report. The money is shared with al Qaeda by the two Taliban factions: Sirajuddin Haqqani’s Kabul faction and Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada’s Kandahar faction, suggesting both leaders, widely regarded as archrivals, see a cozy relationship with al Qaeda as furthering their own interests as well as helping to entrench the group’s overall power.

The Taliban’s monthly take from the gold mines tops $25 million, though this money “does not appear in their official budget,” the report says. Quoting on-the-ground sources, it says the money “goes directly into the pockets of top-ranking Taliban officials and their personal networks.” Since the mines began operating in early 2022, al Qaeda’s share has totaled $194.4 million, it says.