The Taliban have been in power in Afghanistan for a year. They promised to boost the economy, ensure security and uphold human rights. A look at the country shows a different picture.
Kabul, August 15, 2021. The Taliban storm the presidential palace and take control of Afghanistan just weeks after the US and its allies began withdrawing troops. In the hours that followed, dramatic scenes unfolded at the capital’s airport as hundreds of thousands tried in panic to leave the country. Dozens will lose their lives on the tarmac.
A year later, the spokesman for the militant Islamist Taliban government spoke of a “day of victory and happiness for Afghan Muslims and the people.” In the capital, the road to the airport is decorated with the white flags of Islam. Hundreds of militants gather in Massoud Square near the closed US embassy on Monday for a rally to mark the anniversary. Victory slogans keep ringing out.
Yet the people of Afghanistan have little reason to celebrate. after taking power the Taliban had promised a more moderate approach than under their reign of terror in the 1990s. You have changed, so the message. But twelve months later, schools and jobs are history for women, music is officially banned and beards have become compulsory for men. A balance of empty promises.
Afghanistan is in a severe economic crisis
“We will work to revitalize our economy, for our reconstruction, for our prosperity”. Those were the words of the then Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid shortly after the seizure of power. A year later, the country is deep in crisis. The UN Security Council reported in June that the Afghan economy has shrunk by 30 to 40 percent since the Taliban took over. The suspension of most international aid, as well as asset freezes and the collapse of the banking sector have collapsed the economy. The exclusion of women from many professions also causes high losses.
To compensate, the Taliban are trying to increase tax revenues and increase coal exports to take advantage of higher prices around the world. as the “BBC” reports. A budget published in January shows that the government is said to have generated almost 400 million US dollars in domestic revenue between September and December 2021. However, financial experts raise concerns about the lack of transparency in the collection of these figures.
Severe droughts, global food inflation and a rapidly deteriorating economy have led to a hunger crisis in the country. According to the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the current crisis could cost more lives in Afghanistan than the last 20 years of war. “43 percent of the Afghan population lives on less than one meal a day”, sums it up IRC. The situation of most people is “unbearably hard”, especially in the provinces, warns the Germany head of the UN World Food Program (WFP), Martin Frick, and calls for a new development program.
“Catastrophic human rights record” of the Taliban
According to a new Amnesty report, not only the economy, but also the human rights situation looks bleak. “A year ago, the Taliban publicly committed to protecting and promoting human rights,” said Theresa Bergmann, Asia expert at the organization in Germany. “A year later, however, the human rights record is catastrophic.” Arbitrary detentions, torture, enforced disappearances or summary executions are the order of the day.
According to the human rights organization, there are numerous reports of Taliban soldiers beating and torturing people who are said to have violated decrees or who are accused of collaborating with the previous government. Cases of revenge killings and executions of alleged resistance fighters have also become known, according to the report published on Monday “Taliban rule: a year of violence, impunity and false promises“.
In addition, the radical Islamic government persecutes minorities, uses violence against activists and journalists and suppresses peaceful protests. Crimes such as torture, revenge killings and expulsions often went unpunished. Most of the Amnesty report, however, devotes itself to the “grim status” of women’s rights.
Women out of jobs, girls out of schools
Since taking power, the Taliban regime has severely restricted women’s freedoms. From dress codes – women are punished if they don’t wear burqas from head to toe in public – to strict exit regulations – no great distances without a male relative. Even cafés, parks and other public spaces now have separate areas or opening times by gender. “Women experience systematic discrimination in almost every area of life,” summarizes Amnesty expert Bergmann.
As recently as August of last year, the Taliban had promised that girls would continue to be allowed to attend school and study. But in March, when the new school year began, broken that promise. Girls were now banned from going to secondary school. Although some public universities are again offering courses for women, most are still denied proper studies.
While Afghan women’s employment rose from 15 to 22 percent between 1998 and 2019, it took the Taliban less than a year to turn back the clock more than a decade. Thousands of lawyers, journalists and police officers had to give up their jobs as a result of newly passed laws. According to the World Bank, employment fell back to 15 percent. Working women are now restricted to posts in education or healthcare, where they can only work among other women. Many feel transported back to the old Taliban regime. “I always thought my life was better than my mother’s,” says 23-year-old Marwa Quraishi of “New York Times“. “But now I see that life for me, for her – for all of us – is going to get a lot worse.”
In the face of the economic crisis, intimidation by the Taliban and a sense of being cut off from the rest of the world, many Afghans have given up their belief in a better future. “Many people have lost their sense of security and their ability to express themselves,” summarizes Heather Barr, deputy director of women’s rights at Human Rights Watch. “They have lost their voice – any feeling that they could be part of building a country that looks the way they want it to be.”
And yet there are those who refuse to be defeated. Only on Saturday around 30 women protested on one of the main streets in Kabul. With solidarity posters in their hands, they loudly demanded “bread, work, freedom”, “we want political participation” and “no to enslavement”.
A little protest. But one that shows that not everyone in Afghanistan has given up.
Sources: “NYTimes“, “BBC“, “IRC report“, “Amnesty report“, with AFP footage