Month: December 2023

Erdbeben in Herat: Die Naturkatastrophe in West-Afghanistan trifft die Schwächsten

Thomas Ruttig •

Blätter des iz3w, 11 December 2023 This article is an overview about the October 2023 series of earthquakes in Herat, its repercussions for the local population and the response to it by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig, written for the ‘Blätter’ which is one of the longest-standing German NGO journals on north-south relations (in German).

11 Dec 2023

A Response to the United Nations Security Council’s Independent Assessment on Afghanistan

DROPS, November 2023 … the report is problematic from a human rights and women’s rights perspective in important ways. It dramatically understates the extent to which the Taliban are systematically violating the rights of women and girls and imposing gender apartheid. It neglects to mention that the Taliban attack on the rights of women and […]

9 Dec 2023

Dreams Deferred (Again): The last remaining Afghan in Guantanamo loses his latest bid for freedom

Kate Clark •

The last Afghan still held in Guantanamo, Muhammad Rahim from Nangrahar province, has failed in his latest attempt to persuade the United States authorities to release him. The US continues to assert that he was a translator, courier and facilitator for al-Qaeda leaders and even though it is more than two years since US forces […]

8 Dec 2023

2004 Constitution and the Unmaking of the “Republican” Order

Kabul Now, 8 December 2023 Data from AAN research about the 2004 presidential election is used in this very interesting analysis of reasons for the downfall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, focussing on the constitution, i.e. its ‘hyper-centralised’ system and the deal-based policies of the post-2001 state, with the president and the ‘foreigners (mainly […]

8 Dec 2023

Whose Seat Is It Anyway: The UN’s (non)decision on who represents Afghanistan 

Thomas Ruttig •

While the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) maintains that it deserves full-scale recognition, it has not been given the country’s seat at the United Nations. In early December 2023, the UN General Assembly will again consider whether or not to allow the Islamic Emirate to take Afghanistan’s seat at the world body. The argument plays […]

7 Dec 2023

Taliban declares war on polio

Washington Post, 5 December 2023 Although the first sentence of this article and the headline (which I changed here) are wrong – the Taleban’s polio campaign bans were exceptions rather than the rule, and they often supported them –, this is an interesting reportage on how the new rulers are trying to tackle one of […]

5 Dec 2023

Nach Anschlagserie in Afghanistan: Straßenprotest gegen die Taliban

Tageszeitung, 4 December 2023 AAN’s Thomas Ruttig looks at the recent series of assassinations of Shia clerics and other civilians in Herat that led to a (not explicitly anti-Taleban) street protest in the city – showing that there is protest potential among ethnic minorities who continue to feel vulnerable (in German).

4 Dec 2023