LAST 24 HOURS
NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL DIRECTOR URGES EUROPEAN DIPLOMATS TO RETURN TO KABUL – Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the NRC announced that he was lobbying for his government to return its diplomatic staff to Afghanistan and would work to urge other European countries to follow suit. Egeland justified his call by saying nations don’t recognize regimes or governments but should focus on recognizing ‘countries’. Egeland appeared to skip over questions related to potential security threats European diplomats might face.
MEDICAL AND DENTAL COUNCIL OF PAKISTAN PROVIDES SPECIAL PROGRAM FOR FEMALE MEDICAL/DENTAL STUDENTS WHO HAD BEEN STUDYING IN AFGHANISTAN – The PMDC announced it had organized the program in 2022 and that offers to take the entrance exams had been issued to those candidates who had met the criteria. The goal of the program was to allow for students on the exchange programs to complete their medical schooling in Pakistan. Exact figures for how many in this special category took/passed the test have yet to be released. Many of these female students protested throughout 2022 to try and find a solution for their peculiar situations.
CANADA CEMENTS PARTNERSHIP WITH UAE TO RESETTLE AFGHANS TO CANADA – Under a new humanitarian partnership announced in Ottawa yesterday, Canada will work with the United Arab Emirates to resettle nearly 1,000 Afghan nationals who have been stranded in the country.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT URGES THE ICC TO TAKE UP THE CASE OF GENDER BANS IN AFGHANISTAN, CLASSIFYING THE BANS AS CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY – In the report titled - The Taliban’s War on Women: The Crime against humanity of gender persecution in Afghanistan’ the authors say that Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is applicable in the situation in Afghanistan and leaders/enforcers of the bans are subject to prosecution.
NEXT 24 HOURS
SECURITY CLEARING OPERATION PLANNED FOR POLICE DISTRICT 14 IN KABUL – A source in Kabul said the Taliban Police and GDI was planning to raid a building (did not specify if it was a home or business) in the 14th Police District either today or tomorrow. The source said a suspected ISIS-K bomb maker was seen entering and leaving the building on several occasions. At-risk Afghans living in the neighborhood should be prepared to hear/see possible fighting over the next 48 hours.
REGIONAL ROUNDUP
IRAN
A dispute over possible drug profits led to several Iranian backed militia members in the Deir Ezzor area of Syria were wounded.
Belgium released an Iranian citizen in what is thought to have been a prisoner exchange situation that was negotiated in Oman.
Fresh protests broke out in Balochistan Province overnight as students and youth groups took to the streets and blocked traffic. Some sporadic violence was reported.
PAKISTAN
Several Pakistani lawmakers pointed to the prosecutions of the US Capitol rioters as justification for bringing those involved in the 9 May chaos in front of military tribunals.
At least 6 more senior PTI party members announced their departures yesterday over the 9 May violence that occurred.
The Interior Minister announced that a legal review showed that former Prime Minister Khan could be tried in a military court for his part as leader of the party during the May riots.
SPOTLIGHT GENDER
Gender Persecution in Afghanistan: Could it come under the ICC’s Afghanistan investigation?
By Ehsan Qaane - Afghanistan Analysts Network
Since their return to power in August 2021, the Taleban have enacted successive laws and orders which apply to women and girls, but not to men and boys. Earlier this month, United Nations experts reported their assessment that these measures violated women and girls’ rights to education, work, freedom of movement, health, bodily autonomy and decision-making, peaceful assembly and association, and access to justice and amounted to ‘gender persecution’. One of the experts has also asked the International Criminal Court to consider whether the crime against humanity of gender persecution was taking place in Afghanistan. In this Q&A, Ehsan Qaane* unpacks the term as it exists in international law, and in that light, analyses whether the court might consider Taleban restrictions on women as amounting to gender prosecution and whether an investigation could lie within its mandate.
AFGHAN NEWS
Vice and Virtue minister meets with China’s ambassador to Kabul
By Ariana News
The Islamic Emirate’s minister of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Shaikh Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, met with China’s ambassador to Kabul on Thursday where the…
Taliban’s treatment of women, girls should be probed as crime against humanity: Report
By Silyar Sirat - AMU TV
Taliban’s severe restrictions and “unlawful” crackdown on women and girls’ rights should be investigated as possible crimes under international law, including the crime against humanity of gender…
Heavy Rains, Flash Floods Kill 13 People in Afghanistan
By Nizamuddin Rezahi - Khaama Press
As per the findings of the Taliban’s state ministry for natural disaster management, due to flash floods caused by heavy rains at least 56 residential houses have been…
REGIONAL NEWS
UNAMA head, Turmenistan FM Meet in Ashgabat
By Mursaleen Muwahed - TOLO News
The foreign minister of Turkmenistan, Vepa Hajiyev, held talks with head of UMAMA, Roza Otunbayeva, who is on a working visit to Ashgabat to participate in the…
120 Chinese companies held investment talks with IEA since takeover
By Ariana News
A Chinese entrepreneur in Kabul has said that representatives of 120 large Chinese companies have held talks with the officials of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) about…
INTERNATIONAL NEWS RELATING TO AFGHANISTAN
Over 9,000 Afghans File Asylum Applications in the EU in a Month
By Nizamuddin Rezahi - Khaama Press
According to the European Census Bureau reports, more than 9,000 Afghan citizens have applied for asylum applications in the EU member state over the past month…
Both world and IEA need to have positive engagement with each other: acting PM
By Ariana News
The Islamic Emirate’s acting prime minister Mawlavi Abdul Kabir said on Thursday at an event that Afghanistan has progressed in terms of…
THE DAILY WTF
Mutual Interactions of Countries with IEA Menas Recognition, Muttaqi Says
By Nizamuddin Rezahi - Khaama Press
The press office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Taliban in an announcement on Thursday (May 25) said that Minister Muttaqi expressed these remarks in a meeting hosted by the political deputy of…
‘Uhhh….no it doesn’t.’ TAD Staff
Afghani to the Dollar: $1 – 87.57 AFN (as of 27 MAY 2023)