The Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday welcomed parts of the statement by the UN special envoy for Afghanistan to the Security Council but called on the international community to avoid interfering in their governance and laws.
“We therefore urge all actors to respect the peremptory norm of non-interference and cease all attempts at meddling in our internal affairs including the modalities and composition of our government and laws,” the Taliban said in a statement.
Taliban said that the UN Secretary General’s special envoy for Afghanistan Roza Otunbayeva acknowledged “positive changes” that have taken place in Afghanistan such as “an effective ban on drugs” and “macro-economic stability.”
“The SRSG’s statement made some efforts to reflect the complex ground realities of Afghanistan, unlike the recent report by the Monitoring Team of the Sanctions Committee and Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, which were both riddled with inaccuracies and heavily tilted to reflect political agendas of some actors,” the statement said.
Taliban said it remains committed to the international norms and obligations “that do not contradict the principles of Islamic law, or contravene Afghanistan’s cultural norms or undermine national interests.”
Addressing the UNSC meeting on Afghanistan on Wednesday, Otunbayeva said they continue to face a “complicated situation” due to the ban on women working for the organization.
Roza Otunbayeva said more than two months after the April 5 ban was imposed, the UN has still not been given any explanations by the Taliban for the ban nor any assurances that it will be lifted.
She said their national female staff continue to work from home, as do their non-essential male staff. In addition, she said: “We are steadfast: female national staff will not be replaced by male national staff as some de facto authorities have suggested.”
Otunbayeva said the Taliban ask to be recognized by the United Nations and its members, “but at the same time they act against the key values expressed in the United Nations Charter.”
“The de facto Taliban authorities must rescind these bans to enable the United Nations to continue its full support to the people of Afghanistan,” she added.
The Security Council also heard that one “unfortunate effect of these bans is that they obscure some of the other more positive achievements that have taken place under the de facto authorities.”
