The Taliban’s human rights record jeopardizes the hope of reaching agreements with the Central Bank
Aug. 4 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) has indicated this Thursday that the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan will not be able to be softened if the restrictions on the banking sector by the United States and allied Western countries remain, for which reason it has urged the parties to reach an agreement to alleviate hunger in the country.
“The intensification of the crisis of hunger and health in Afghanistan is urgent and, in essence, it is a banking crisis”, said the director of Advocacy in Asia of HRW, John Sifton, who added that “international economic restrictions continue to causing the catastrophe of the country and harming the Afghan people”.
The Taliban have called on the United States and other Western countries on numerous occasions to unfreeze funds from the Central Bank and withdraw the sanctions imposed on the country after their seizure of power in August 2021, arguing that the lack of funds is deepening the serious humanitarian crisis in the country.
Due to this, HRW has highlighted in a statement that the country continues to suffer from a major liquidity crisis and lack of banknotes, that millions of Afghans have lost their income and that acute malnutrition, aggravated by the economic crisis, is rooted in Afghanistan.
“People don’t have anything to eat. The situation is serious, especially if you go to the villages,” an official told the organization in July, adding that, faced with an “unbelievable” situation in 2022, a “working banking system is an immediate and crucial need to address the humanitarian crisis.
According to the World Food Program (WFP), almost 20 million people, half the population, suffer from level 3 “crisis” or level 4 “emergency” food insecurity and more than one million children under 5-year-olds, especially at risk of dying when deprived of food, suffer from prolonged acute malnutrition.
HRW has highlighted that more than 90 percent of Afghans have been experiencing some form of food insecurity since last August, skipping meals or eating for days on end and resorting to extreme coping mechanisms to pay for food, including sending their children to work. .
“Importers are struggling to pay for goods, humanitarian groups are facing problems with basic operations, and the Afghan diaspora is unable to send enough money to family and friends,” Sifton said, stressing that “millions of hungry Afghans are experiencing the abysmal reality of seeing food in the market but not being able to buy it.
HUMAN RIGHTS
The reports, as the organization has said, indicate that the authorities are prepared to accept the independent supervision of the Central Bank by external auditors, a key demand of the United States and the World Bank itself, although they reject the key demands to initiate the process, such as reversing its position of denying secondary education to girls and women.
Thus, the director of Advocacy in Asia of HRW has highlighted that the Taliban “seem more interested in restricting the Human Rights of Afghan women and girls than in preventing hunger.” “If their leadership seeks legitimacy, they must rethink their priorities,” he said.
“Taliban leaders must recognize that their poor human rights record is jeopardizing hopes of reaching agreements to resolve the banking crisis,” Human Rights Watch said in its statement.
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