Assembly of Human Rights Defenders to Several Countries: Stop Normalizing and Granting Immunity to the Taliban

In a statement released on Sunday (June 9), the Assembly said that recently some governments have been attempting to grant immunity to "the most notorious anti-human rights figures and war criminals" whose names are on international blacklists.

The Assembly of Human Rights Defenders strongly criticized and condemned this approach in their statement.

The Assembly also accused Russia of normalizing relations with the Taliban, stating that Russia invited the Taliban's Minister of Education and Higher Education while millions of Afghan girls have been deprived of their right to education by the group.

The Assembly also condemned the travel of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban's Minister of Interior, and Abdul Haq Wasiq, the head of the Taliban's intelligence, to the United Arab Emirates, accusing the country of hosting "terrorists and human rights violators."

The Assembly called on the media and civil society activists to launch a nationwide advocacy campaign against "granting immunity to criminals" and the widespread human rights violations in Afghanistan.

The Assembly also urged the United Nations Sanctions Monitoring Committee to take decisive and preventive actions to maintain sanctions against the Taliban and to ban their travel. The Assembly warned that otherwise, people around the world would lose trust in the United Nations' legal and political programs.

This statement from the Assembly of Human Rights Defenders comes as, in the past two weeks, at least eight senior Taliban officials have traveled to various countries, including Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.

The United Nations Security Council Sanctions Monitoring Committee also granted travel permits last week to at least four Taliban officials, including Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is on the United States' most-wanted list.