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Free Malaysia Today
a day ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Taliban denies arresting or monitoring Afghans after UK data leak
The Taliban's interpretation of Islamic law has seen women and girls banned from education and jobs. (AP pic) KABUL : The Taliban government said today it had not arrested or monitored Afghans involved in a secret British resettlement plan after a data breach was revealed this week. Thousands of Afghans who worked with the UK were brought to Britain with their families in a secret programme after a 2022 data breach put their lives at risk, the UK government revealed on Tuesday. The scheme was only revealed after the UK High Court lifted a super-gag order banning any reports of the events. UK defence minister John Healey said the leak was not revealed because of the risk that the Taliban authorities would obtain the data set and the lives of Afghans would be put at risk. 'Nobody has been arrested for their past actions, nobody has been killed and nobody is being monitored for that,' the Afghan government's deputy spokesman, Hamdullah Fitrat, told reporters today. 'Reports of investigation and monitoring of a few people whose data has been leaked are false.' After the Taliban swept back to power in 2021, their Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada announced an amnesty for Afghans who worked for Nato forces or the ousted foreign-backed government during the two-decade conflict. 'All their information and documents are present here in the defence ministry, interior ministry and intelligence,' Fitrat added. 'We don't need to use the leaked documents from Britain.' He said 'rumours' were being spread to create fear among Afghans and their families. Around 900 Afghans and 3,600 family members have now been brought to Britain or are in transit under the programme known as the Afghan Response Route, at a cost of around £400 million, Healey said. They are among some 36,000 Afghans who have been accepted by Britain under different schemes since the August 2021 fall of Kabul. Tens of thousands of Afghans fled Afghanistan in a chaotic weeks-long evacuation when the Taliban won their insurgency, after the mass withdrawal of international troops and air support to the country. Tens of thousands more have been resettled under European and US asylum schemes, which after four years have now slowed to almost a halt. The Taliban government has imposed a severe interpretation of Islamic law, which has seen women and girls banned from most education and jobs.
Express Tribune
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
ICC issues arrest warrants of top Taliban leaders
Listen to article The International Criminal Court on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity for persecuting women and girls. Judges said there were "reasonable grounds" to suspect Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and chief justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani of committing gender-based persecution. "While the Taliban have imposed certain rules and prohibitions on the population as a whole, they have specifically targeted girls and women by reason of their gender, depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms," the court said in a statement. The Taliban had "severely deprived" girls and women of the rights to education, privacy and family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion, ICC judges said. "In addition, other persons were targeted because certain expressions of sexuality and/or gender identity were regarded as inconsistent with the Taliban's policy on gender." The court said the alleged crimes had been committed between August 15, 2021, when the Taliban seized power, and continued until at least January 20, 2025. The Taliban government barred girls from secondary school and women from university in the first 18 months after they ousted the US-backed government, making Afghanistan the only country in the world to impose such bans. Authorities imposed restrictions on women working for non-governmental groups and other employment, with thousands of women losing government jobsor being paid to stay home. Beauty salons have been closed and women blocked from visiting public parks, gyms and baths as well as travelling long distances without a male chaperone. A "vice and virtue" law announced last summer ordered women not to sing or recite poetry in public and for their voices and bodies to be "concealed" outside the home. When requesting the arrest warrants in January, chief prosecutor Karim Khan said Afghan women and girls, as well as the LGBTQ community, were facing "an unprecedented, unconscionable and ongoing persecution by the Taliban". "Our action signals that the status quo for women and girls in Afghanistan is not acceptable," he added. Khan warned at the time he would soon be seeking additional warrants for other Taliban officials. United Nations The United Nations General Assembly on Monday denounced the "systematic oppression" of women and girls in Afghanistan by the country's Taliban authorities. The resolution was adopted by 116 votes in favor versus the United States and Israel against, with 12 abstentions. The text "expresses its serious concern about the grave, worsening, widespread and systematic oppression of all women and girls in Afghanistan by the Taliban." It said the Taliban, a strictly conservative Islamist armed group that took control of the country in 2021, "has put in place an institutionalized system of discrimination, segregation, disrespect for human dignity and the exclusion of women and girls." Since taking power, Taliban authorities, who also ruled the country between 1996 and 2001, have restricted women's education and ability to work, and barred them from participation in many forms of public life. Member states called on the Taliban "to swiftly reverse contradictory policies and practices," including laws that "extend the already intolerable restrictions on the human rights of women and girls and on basic personal freedoms for all Afghans." The resolution welcomed the Doha talks, initiated in 2023 by the UN to coordinate the international community's approach to the Taliban authorities, and called on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to appoint a coordinator to facilitate that process. The United States opposed the resolution and rejected engagement with the Taliban government. "Nearly four years following the Taliban takeover, we continue the same conversations and engage with the same so-called Taliban officials about improving the situation in Afghanistan without demanding results from them," said US representative Jonathan Shrier. "The United States will no longer enable their heinous behavior." Russia officially became the first country to recognize the Taliban government last week.
Observer
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Observer
ICC seeks arrest of Taliban leaders over persecution of women
The Hague: The International Criminal Court on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity for persecuting women and girls. Judges said there were "reasonable grounds" to suspect Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and chief justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani of committing gender-based persecution. "While the Taliban have imposed certain rules and prohibitions on the population as a whole, they have specifically targeted girls and women by reason of their gender, depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms," the court said in a statement. Afghanistan's Taliban authorities rejected the International Criminal Court's arrest warrants and called the move "nonsense". "Such nonsense announcements won't affect the strong commitment and dedication to sharia (Islamic law)" of Taliban authorities, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement, adding that the Taliban government does not recognise the court. The Taliban had "severely deprived" girls and women of the rights to education, privacy and family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion, ICC judges said. The court said the alleged crimes had been committed between August 15, 2021, when the Taliban seized power, and continued until at least January 20, 2025. Taliban authorities did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The ICC, based in The Hague, was set up to rule on the world's worst crimes, such as war crimes and crimes against humanity. It has no police force of its own and relies on member states to carry out its arrest warrants — with mixed results. In theory, this means anyone subject to an ICC arrest warrant cannot travel to a member state for fear of being detained. After sweeping back to power in August 2021, the Taliban authorities pledged a softer rule than their first stint from 1996 to 2001. But they quickly imposed restrictions on women and girls that the United Nations has labelled "gender apartheid". Edicts in line with their interpretation of Islamic law handed down by Akhundzada, who rules by decree from the movement's birthplace in southern Kandahar, have squeezed women and girls from public life. The Taliban government barred girls from secondary school and women from university in the first 18 months after they ousted the US-backed government, making Afghanistan the only country in the world to impose such bans. Authorities imposed restrictions on women working for non-governmental groups and other employment, with thousands of women losing government jobs -- or being paid to stay home. Beauty salons have been closed and women blocked from visiting public parks, gyms and baths as well as travelling long distances without a male chaperone. A "vice and virtue" law announced last year ordered women not to sing or recite poetry in public and for their voices and bodies to be "concealed" outside the home. — AFP
eNCA
08-07-2025
- Politics
- eNCA
ICC seeks arrest of Taliban leaders over persecution of women
The International Criminal Court on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity for persecuting women and girls. Judges said there were "reasonable grounds" to suspect Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and chief justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani of committing gender-based persecution. "While the Taliban have imposed certain rules and prohibitions on the population as a whole, they have specifically targeted girls and women by reason of their gender, depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms," the court said in a statement. The Taliban had "severely deprived" girls and women of the rights to education, privacy and family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion, ICC judges said. "In addition, other persons were targeted because certain expressions of sexuality and/or gender identity were regarded as inconsistent with the Taliban's policy on gender." The court said the alleged crimes had been committed between August 15, 2021, when the Taliban seized power, and continued until at least January 20, 2025. Taliban authorities rejected the warrants as "nonsense". The ICC warrants "won't affect the strong commitment and dedication to sharia (Islamic law)" of Taliban authorities, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement. The ICC, based in The Hague, was set up to rule on the world's worst crimes, such as war crimes and crimes against humanity. It has no police force of its own and relies on member states to carry out its arrest warrants -- with mixed results. In theory, this means anyone subject to an ICC arrest warrant cannot travel to a member state for fear of being detained. - 'Ongoing persecution' - After sweeping back to power in August 2021, the Taliban authorities pledged a softer rule than their first stint from 1996 to 2001. But they quickly imposed restrictions on women and girls that the United Nations has labelled "gender apartheid". Edicts in line with their interpretation of Islamic law handed down by Akhundzada, who rules by decree from the movement's birthplace in southern Kandahar, have squeezed women and girls out of public life. The Taliban government barred girls from secondary school and women from university in the first 18 months after they ousted the US-backed government, making Afghanistan the only country in the world to impose such bans. Authorities imposed restrictions on women working for non-governmental groups and other employment, with thousands of women losing government jobs -- or being paid to stay at home. Beauty salons have been closed and women blocked from visiting public parks, gyms and baths as well as travelling long distances without a male chaperone. A "vice and virtue" law announced last year ordered women not to sing or recite poetry in public and for their voices and bodies to be "concealed" outside the home. The ICC prosecutor's office welcomed the warrants as "an important vindication and acknowledgement of the rights of Afghan women and girls." "Through the Taliban's deprivation of fundamental rights to education, privacy and family life... Afghan women and girls were increasingly erased from public life," said ICC prosecutors. "The decision of the judges of the ICC affirms that their rights are valuable, and that their plight and voices matter." When requesting the arrest warrants in January, chief prosecutor Karim Khan warned that he would seek warrants for other Taliban officials. Agnes Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International, said the ICC warrants gave hope to women and girls inside and outside of Afghanistan. Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch, said the arrest warrants showed that "when justice is supported, victims can have their day in court."
Hindustan Times
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
ICC seeks arrest of Taliban leaders over persecution of women
The International Criminal Court on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity for persecuting women and girls. The ICC, based in The Hague, was set up to rule on the world's worst crimes, such as war crimes and crimes against humanity.(File/AP) Judges said there were "reasonable grounds" to suspect Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and chief justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani of committing gender-based persecution. "While the Taliban have imposed certain rules and prohibitions on the population as a whole, they have specifically targeted girls and women by reason of their gender, depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms," the court said in a statement. The Taliban had "severely deprived" girls and women of the rights to education, privacy and family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion, ICC judges said. "In addition, other persons were targeted because certain expressions of sexuality and/or gender identity were regarded as inconsistent with the Taliban's policy on gender." The court said the alleged crimes had been committed between August 15, 2021, when the Taliban seized power, and continued until at least January 20, 2025. Taliban authorities rejected the warrants as "nonsense". The ICC warrants "won't affect the strong commitment and dedication to sharia (Islamic law)" of Taliban authorities, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement. The ICC, based in The Hague, was set up to rule on the world's worst crimes, such as war crimes and crimes against humanity. It has no police force of its own and relies on member states to carry out its arrest warrants -- with mixed results. In theory, this means anyone subject to an ICC arrest warrant cannot travel to a member state for fear of being detained. 'Ongoing persecution' After sweeping back to power in August 2021, the Taliban authorities pledged a softer rule than their first stint from 1996 to 2001. But they quickly imposed restrictions on women and girls that the United Nations has labelled "gender apartheid". Edicts in line with their interpretation of Islamic law handed down by Akhundzada, who rules by decree from the movement's birthplace in southern Kandahar, have squeezed women and girls out of public life. The Taliban government barred girls from secondary school and women from university in the first 18 months after they ousted the US-backed government, making Afghanistan the only country in the world to impose such bans. Authorities imposed restrictions on women working for non-governmental groups and other employment, with thousands of women losing government jobs -- or being paid to stay at home. Beauty salons have been closed and women blocked from visiting public parks, gyms and baths as well as travelling long distances without a male chaperone. A "vice and virtue" law announced last year ordered women not to sing or recite poetry in public and for their voices and bodies to be "concealed" outside the home. The ICC prosecutor's office welcomed the warrants as "an important vindication and acknowledgement of the rights of Afghan women and girls." "Through the Taliban's deprivation of fundamental rights to education, privacy and family life... Afghan women and girls were increasingly erased from public life," said ICC prosecutors. "The decision of the judges of the ICC affirms that their rights are valuable, and that their plight and voices matter." When requesting the arrest warrants in January, chief prosecutor Karim Khan warned that he would seek warrants for other Taliban officials. Agnes Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International, said the ICC warrants gave hope to women and girls inside and outside of Afghanistan. Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch, said the arrest warrants showed that 'when justice is supported, victims can have their day in court.'
