WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES – US Special Envoy for Afghan Women and Human Rights, Rina Amiri, says that normalization of relations with the Taliban will not happen until there is a significant improvement in the situation of human rights in Afghanistan.
During a hearing on the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan at the US Congress on Tuesday, July 30, Ms. Amiri said that the US has told the Taliban that improving the human rights situation in Afghanistan is crucial for any progress toward normalization.
“We’ve made it clear to the Taliban, to our allies, and to the global community repeatedly that until the Taliban significantly improve the situation for women’s rights and human rights in general, there is not going to be a movement in the direction they seek towards normalization,” she said.
“The U.S. has not recognized the Taliban. We do not see normalization as moving forward in the way that the Taliban desire until the Taliban meet their international obligations, as well as the priorities that we have noted,” she added.
The US envoy said that human rights, particularly the situation of women and girls, are at the heart of US policymaking and are a focus across all efforts.
“In our bilateral and multilateral engagements, we make clear that human rights are the heart of the US policy and cannot be deprioritized. We have repeatedly underscored to the Taliban that any significant step toward normalization of relations is contingent on profound improvement on the human rights conducts,” she told members of Congress.
“What I hear from the Afghan women is that they want us to put all of the tools at our disposal to try to improve their situation. They did not choose the Taliban; they are the ones that suffering from this humanitarian disaster,” she added.
Ms. Amiri also mentioned that the US prioritizes engaging with Muslim countries in its diplomatic efforts, acknowledging their crucial role in countering the Taliban’s narratives about the rights of women.
Other speakers at the hearing included Afghan women activists Wahida Amiri and Metra Mehran, as well as Heather Barr, Associate Director of the Women’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch (HRW).
They all urged the US government to refrain from recognizing the Taliban regime and called for gender apartheid to be recognized as a crime against humanity.
“Gender apartheid must be recognized as crime under international law in order to strengthen efforts to combat institutionalized regimes of systematic oppression and domination imposed on the grounds of gender,” Metra Mehran said.
Heather Barr said that Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights in Afghanistan, has described the situation as gender apartheid. Similarly, Afghan women activists have called for gender apartheid to be recognized as a crime under international law.
She criticized the international response to the crisis in Afghanistan as shocking, saying that private discussions between Western diplomats and Taliban authorities have not led to any significant improvements.
“Diplomats from numerous countries have promised to consistently raise women’s rights issues in their meetings with Taliban officials. However, three years later, it is evident that their private interventions and public statements, unsupported by action, have had no meaningful impact in compelling the Taliban to curtail or end their abuses,” she said.
