ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Dozens of Afghan female protesters living in exile in Pakistan condemned the third round of the Doha meeting on Afghanistan, calling it a “world’s compromising deal with terrorists.”
The protesters announced their boycott of the meeting.
Referring to the United Nations, the protesters argued that inviting the Taliban to the Doha meeting disregards the will of the Afghan people. In a resolution, they described the Taliban as a “terrorist group” lacking “political and legal legitimacy.”
“It has seized political power through military violence, spreading fear and terror over the past three decades,” the resolution stated. “Any engagement with the Taliban under the pretext of negotiation is an open interaction with war criminals, perpetrators of crimes against humanity, perpetrators of gender apartheid, and enemies of the people of Afghanistan. Such interactions are compromises that undermine human values such as justice, dignity, and freedom.”
Criticizing the UN and the international community’s engagement with the Taliban, the protesters warned that any deal with the Taliban contravenes “all human rights values” the international community claims to uphold.
The women called on the UN and the international community to engage in dialogue with other Afghan leaders instead of the Taliban. As the Doha meeting, convened by the UN, begins today and continues tomorrow, Afghan women protesters around the world urged the UN and the international community to recognize “gender apartheid” in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
The Pakistan-based Afghan female protesters also argued that the Taliban systematically denies and suppresses other religions and sects in Afghanistan, calling for increased international sanctions on Taliban members.
The protesters contend that each trip by Taliban members to countries around the world is an effort to recruit for the expansion of “international terrorism.”
The UN-hosted Doha meeting will begin this evening, with envoys from around 30 countries and institutions in attendance.
