What's life like for Afghan women under the Taliban?
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Raiwind-Destroyer
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
The documents, obtained through access to information law, show David Sproule, Canada's senior official for Afghanistan, has been — along with various Global Affairs Canada (GAC) officials and representatives of allied countries — pressing the Taliban for commitments on extending the right to an education to women, fighting terrorism and granting safe passage to Afghans who want to leave the country.
Unlike foreign affairs departments in the U.S. and Pakistan, Canada does not provide regular updates on its talks with the government in Afghanistan.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declined an interview request for this story, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told journalists Wednesday morning that Canada has no intention of recognizing the Taliban as Afghanistan's government.
"The reality is, along with international partners, we have to continue to press on them to respect womens' rights, to make sure the girls can go to school, to help the safe passage of people who want to leave Afghanistan. There is a need to engage even though we will not be recognizing them," he said.
In a statement, GAC spokesperson Charlotte MacLeod emphasized how Sproule has been engaging the Taliban informally, with allied countries, and all would continue to press them on human-rights related issues, fighting terror and other "key priorities."
(From left) Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, U.S. Maj.-Gen. Benjamin Freakley and David Sproule, the Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan, speak with reporters after the change of command ceremony that put Fraser in charge of coalition troops on the ground in southern Afghanistan on Feb. 28, 2006. (The Canadian Press)
The documents obtained by CBC News are mostly emails Sproule sent to his GAC colleagues. They show the Taliban has made its own requests of Canada and other countries — and has issued denials regarding the dangers faced by Afghans trying to leave, despite multiple reports by CBC News and other media outlets about those dangers.
In a meeting on Oct. 12, 2021 — not long after it took over — the Taliban asked representatives of foreign governments to reopen their embassies in Kabul.
According to a note Sproule wrote to his colleagues, Afghanistan's acting foreign minister at the time, Amir Khan Muttaqi, also asked those governments to lift their sanctions and claimed his government was inclusive because it included ethnic minority representation and "women in government have not been fired."
The Canadian embassy's entrance gate after the evacuation in Kabul on August 15, 2021. (Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images)
During that same meeting, Sproule reported, the Taliban claimed that "people are using security as an excuse to leave the country, but are really leaving to seek economic opportunities." Sproule said the Taliban also claimed that while it did not want anyone to leave, it would "not create hurdles if they wanted to go."
Sproule said that the Taliban suggested that foreign governments "interested in helping women ... should start by paying the salaries of 200,000 female teachers, including 28,000 in Kabul."
Sproule reported that during his next meeting with Afghan government representatives, also in October, the Taliban acknowledged "a minor problem in cabinet" — a lack of women.
Taliban representatives also claimed, he said, that "women judges, prosecutors and others" taking part in demonstrations against the regime "are deliberately provoking security personnel to retaliate against them so they can produce video of the retaliation to back up their claims for asylum abroad."
Women demonstrate ahead of the first anniversary of the Taliban's return to power in Kabul on Saturday.
Unlike foreign affairs departments in the U.S. and Pakistan, Canada does not provide regular updates on its talks with the government in Afghanistan.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declined an interview request for this story, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told journalists Wednesday morning that Canada has no intention of recognizing the Taliban as Afghanistan's government.
"The reality is, along with international partners, we have to continue to press on them to respect womens' rights, to make sure the girls can go to school, to help the safe passage of people who want to leave Afghanistan. There is a need to engage even though we will not be recognizing them," he said.
In a statement, GAC spokesperson Charlotte MacLeod emphasized how Sproule has been engaging the Taliban informally, with allied countries, and all would continue to press them on human-rights related issues, fighting terror and other "key priorities."
(From left) Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, U.S. Maj.-Gen. Benjamin Freakley and David Sproule, the Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan, speak with reporters after the change of command ceremony that put Fraser in charge of coalition troops on the ground in southern Afghanistan on Feb. 28, 2006. (The Canadian Press)
The documents obtained by CBC News are mostly emails Sproule sent to his GAC colleagues. They show the Taliban has made its own requests of Canada and other countries — and has issued denials regarding the dangers faced by Afghans trying to leave, despite multiple reports by CBC News and other media outlets about those dangers.
In a meeting on Oct. 12, 2021 — not long after it took over — the Taliban asked representatives of foreign governments to reopen their embassies in Kabul.
According to a note Sproule wrote to his colleagues, Afghanistan's acting foreign minister at the time, Amir Khan Muttaqi, also asked those governments to lift their sanctions and claimed his government was inclusive because it included ethnic minority representation and "women in government have not been fired."
The Canadian embassy's entrance gate after the evacuation in Kabul on August 15, 2021. (Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images)
During that same meeting, Sproule reported, the Taliban claimed that "people are using security as an excuse to leave the country, but are really leaving to seek economic opportunities." Sproule said the Taliban also claimed that while it did not want anyone to leave, it would "not create hurdles if they wanted to go."
Sproule said that the Taliban suggested that foreign governments "interested in helping women ... should start by paying the salaries of 200,000 female teachers, including 28,000 in Kabul."
Sproule reported that during his next meeting with Afghan government representatives, also in October, the Taliban acknowledged "a minor problem in cabinet" — a lack of women.
Taliban representatives also claimed, he said, that "women judges, prosecutors and others" taking part in demonstrations against the regime "are deliberately provoking security personnel to retaliate against them so they can produce video of the retaliation to back up their claims for asylum abroad."
Women demonstrate ahead of the first anniversary of the Taliban's return to power in Kabul on Saturday.
Wake Up Pakistan
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Bakwas na karoo
let them live now
let them live now
USA kabhi Afghanistan ko stable nahi honay de ga.Uper se Taliban bhi khotay ke puttar hain.Jin ko abhi bhi samjh nahi ae ke Jis qoum ki maain.betian parhi likhi na ho wo qoum chahay Musalman bhi ho.Taraqqi nahi kar sakti.Islam har anay walay waqt ka Deen ha.Molvi Fazulo wali Fasiq firqa soch choro.ur true Islam ko pehchano..
Afghanistan IK ke hawalay kar do 5 saal ke lia..sab theek kar dey ga.Lekan wahan Nuetrals nahi honay chahay..
Afghanistan IK ke hawalay kar do 5 saal ke lia..sab theek kar dey ga.Lekan wahan Nuetrals nahi honay chahay..
