The Kabul quandary

Thursday 9th September, 2021

Afghanistan now has an interim government of the Taliban by the Taliban for the Taliban; it is an all-male administration sans any inclusiveness. Even the Taliban groups considered moderate and politically pragmatic have been left out. Worse, 17 out of the 33 Cabinet ministers are reportedly on the UN sanction list; Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani and his uncle, Rehman Haqqani, who is the Minister for Refugees, are on the FBI’s list of most wanted terrorists. Sirajuddin has a 10-million-dolloar bounty on his head! According to Afghanistan’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN, Ghulam Isaczai, those on the UN sanction list include interim Prime Minister, two Deputy PMs, and ministers of Interior, Defence and Foreign Affairs.

The composition of the caretaker government gives a foretaste of what the future holds for Afghanistan. However, thankfully, a discernible change has apparently come over the Taliban, compared to what they were before their ouster in 2001. They seem somewhat tolerant of dissent if their reaction to protests against their rule, in some parts of the country, is any indication. Before the fall of Kabul, it was thought that the Taliban would wipe out their opponents the way they had done in the past. What was feared has not come to pass. But there is no guarantee that the Taliban will not revert to their old ways. Hence the need for the international community to engage them in talks and promote democratic change while granting aid. There is no other way to help the ordinary Afghans crying out for help. A violent group, whose members have been brought up on a diet of religious extremism from birth, and trained to kill, cannot be expected to mend its ways overnight.

The Taliban are now dependent on mainstream and social media for their propaganda. This is in sharp contrast to what they did during their previous rule from 1996 to 2001; they banned television and entertainment, and there was no media worth speaking of, in Afghanistan, at the time. They went so far as to search and destroy television sets so much so that they came to be dubbed ‘Teleban’. Today, media outlets have been allowed to operate and women are seen moving about unaccompanied and using mobile phones in public. This may be considered a positive impact the 20-year hiatus in the Taliban rule has had on the Afghan society.

The western nations that have taken upon themselves the burden of defending human rights and democracy across the world and even do not hesitate to bomb developing countries back into the Stone Age to ‘protect democracy’ find themselves in a dilemma. They will have to deal with Afghanistan’s caretaker government with ministers they consider terrorists and have even offered bounties for. China has indicated its willingness to work with the Taliban regime, and the US, the UK, the EU and their allies will be compelled to soften their stand on Afghanistan as China’s involvement in that country is a worrisome proportion for them. The western powers, it bears recall, did likewise in Africa, where they first cut off aid to several nations, citing human rights violations as the reason. China moved in with aid, and the West followed suit, throwing their human rights concerns out of the window.

The irony of having to deal with the interim Taliban government while campaigning for setting up war crimes tribunals elsewhere could not be starker for the US and its western allies. China is reported to have called for a probe into the war crimes committed by the US and the coalition forces in Afghanistan. On 24 August, Chinese envoy Chen Xu told the UNHRC that the US army and the militaries of the coalition forces had to be held accountable for human rights violations in Afghanistan. He said: “The US, the UK, Australia and other countries must be held accountable for the violation of human rights committed by their militaries in Afghanistan and the current session should cover this issue.”

Now that the Taliban have formed a government and their leaders have come out of hiding, the UNHRC should be able to heed China’s request and order a probe. The onus is on the UNHRC members concerned about the human rights violations in Afghanistan to move a resolution for a war crimes probe there, and request the US to co-sponsor it and lead by example.