KABUL: Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities on Saturday criticized the UN Security Council’s plan for a special envoy to promote gender and human rights in the country as “unnecessary.”
The Taliban government is not officially recognized by any country or world body, and the United Nations refers to the administration as the “Taliban de facto authorities.”
Many are torn over engaging with Kabul’s rulers in a bid to roll back their controls on women and girls, or freezing them out until they make concessions such as reopening educational opportunities for females.
On Friday, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted a resolution calling for the appointment of a special envoy for Afghanistan to increase engagement with the country and its Taliban leaders.
But foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said a new envoy “is unnecessary as Afghanistan is not a conflict zone and is ruled by a central government that is able to secure its national interests.”
In a post on social media site X, he said the Taliban government welcomes “more robust and enhanced engagement” with the UN, but special envoys “have complicated situations further via imposition of external solutions.”
“The approach of the government of Afghanistan will ultimately be guided by the unaltered religious beliefs, cultural values and national interests of the people of Afghanistan,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Since the Taliban surged back to power in August 2021, Kabul’s new rulers have insisted on their right to impose harsh social controls in accordance with their austere interpretation of Islam.
They have rejected appeals to obey international law as undue meddling in their domestic affairs.
Teenage girls have been banned from attending most secondary schools and women from universities, prompting global outrage and protests in some Afghan cities.
Late in 2022, women were prohibited from entering parks, funfairs, gyms and public baths.
The UN resolution followed an independent assessment report issued in November calling for greater engagement with Afghanistan.
It was adopted after 13 members of the Security Council voted in favor, while Russia and China abstained.
Taliban balk at UN Security Council plan for special Afghan envoy on gender, human rights
https://arab.news/5br4x
Taliban balk at UN Security Council plan for special Afghan envoy on gender, human rights
- The Taliban government is not officially recognized by any country or world body
- Many are torn over engaging with Kabul rulers in bid to roll back controls on women
Nigeria govt critic detained by anti-corruption agency
Abuja: Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency said Tuesday it was questioning opposition politician Nasir El-Rufai, a prominent critic of President Bola Tinubu.
The authorities launched court proceedings on Monday against El-Rufai, a former governor of Kaduna state, after he said on Nigerian television he had tapped the phone of Tinubu’s national security adviser.
Local media said he was being questioned about the alleged misuse of 432 billion naira ($319 million) during his stint as governor of Kaduna between 2015 and 2023.
He was summoned to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and appeared voluntarily, EFCC spokesman Dele Oyewale told AFP on Tuesday.
“He was invited and he honored the invitation,” Oyewale said. “He is being interviewed now.”
El-Rufai told TV channel Arise News on Friday he had intercepted calls from Tinubu’s aide Nuhu Ribadu, whom he accused of using the security services as his “personal tools.”
He also said the west African country’s domestic intelligence agency, DSS, had tried to arrest him at Abuja airport the day before but he had refused to go with them.
El-Rufai, who recently declared that he was still considering whether to challenge Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, said the anti-corruption commission had “procured the DSS to abduct me for them.”
“This is their modus operandi. They are personal tools of Nuhu Ribadu,” he said.
At the weekend, he posted on X a letter addressed to Ribadu asking the latter to explain an alleged delivery of 10 kilogrammes of thallium sulphate, a highly toxic chemical.
Another senior member of El-Rufai’s opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) party, former justice minister Abubakar Malami, is also facing legal proceedings over allegations of terrorism and money-laundering.
