WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES – The Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, has criticized the Taliban’s justification of their policies towards women and girls, arguing that their claim of being based on Islamic teachings is inaccurate.
During a press conference at the UN on Monday, June 1, the Russian envoy, when asked whether his country had ever urged the Taliban to respect human rights, especially women’s rights, said that the Taliban have their own ideas and are not inclined to listen to others.
“We are talking to them but they have their own ideas about it unfortunately, I am not approving that. But that is the reality we are facing,” the Russian envoy said.
“The Taliban and their women and girl policies which they justify by Islamic norms which in fact not Islamic and many Islamic countries are trying to explain to them but they would not listen. That is the problem,” he added.
Since their return to power, the Taliban have steadily imposed repressive measures against women and girls in Afghanistan. Under their rule, women are prohibited from working in the public sector and for NGOs, pursuing secondary and university education, traveling long distances without male relatives, and accessing parks, public baths, and gyms.
Despite substantial calls and pressure from the majority of the world, including Islamic countries and organizations, for the Taliban to uphold the fundamental rights of women and girls, the fundamentalist regime argues that their policies and practices are grounded in Islamic Sharia law and Afghan traditions.
Like other countries, Russia has not recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan and has maintained sanctions on the regime, labeling it as a terrorist group. However, the country has kept its embassy in Kabul open and has transferred the Afghan embassy in Moscow to Taliban diplomats.
Recently, Russia announced that it is considering removing the Taliban from its list of designated terrorist organizations. The country argues that building relations with the Taliban is necessary because the group controls Afghanistan and currently holds authority in the country.
During the press conference, the Russian envoy mentioned that discussions regarding delisting the Taliban and removing sanctions against them are underway.
“On how far we are from removing them from the sanctions list on which they are now with Russia, I cannot tell you the definite answer, but I heard some talks about it,” he said.
“(The Taliban) are the de facto authorities. (They) are not going to stop, and we’ve been saying consistently that you have to recognise this fact and deal with them as such because, whether you like it or not, this movement is running the country now. You cannot simply ignore that,” he added.
