Author: Sayed Hussain Hussainy

Experts believe that the Afghan negotiating team capacity to engage in a dialogue with the Taliban is one of the main factors for their success.Shahla Farid, a law professor at Kabul University who was previously a member of the peace negotiating team, said that the government had not paid enough attention to strengthening the negotiating team's capacity, only individual attempts have been made by the members themselves. She believes that there is no consensus among the team members which is very crucial in the peace talks.CSHRN: Has there been any change in the Taliban’s view? Farid: Looking at their current activities, it can be said that there has been no change in the Taliban's view, but the result will be determined during the talks.Ms. Farid adds that the Taliban's war strategy and their political leaders need to be observed separately to see whether the Taliban political group involved in the negotiations will influence the group's war machine.CSHRN: Do you mean that the Taliban who are negotiating with the government are different from the Taliban on the battlefield?Farid: Although the Taliban who negotiate with the government are less violent, I do not think the two Taliban groups are different during the talks; Because there is one thing in common between the two groups that both see their existence in war and want to prove their reality through war.CSHRN: If the government share power with the Taliban, what will change in the lives of women?Farid: If power is shared with the Taliban, they will necessarily protect women's rights. They cannot close schools and universities and will have to respect many other values. But if they rise to power, the situation of women will change.CSHRN: What will these changes be?Farid: I think there will be a relatively long break in women's social…

The start of direct talks between the representatives of the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban - after the fulfillment of the conditions by both parties to the conflict - is promising for the people of Afghanistan who have borne the brunt of nearly half a century conflict making peace an unattainable dream. The citizens of Afghanistan are looking forward to an inclusive and lasting peace in which the concerns of all parties to the conflict and the victims of the war are attended.  With this in mind, the Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN), as an umbrella body, comprising of civil society, human rights, media, and women rights organizations put forward issues related to peace talks if taken into account the peace process will lead to a more durable outcome. Else, there is a fear of falling into another chaos.The CSHRN recommendations:1. Justice:• Injustice is the main problem in Afghanistan. Afghans want justice and their desire to achieve equality in the country is paramount. Justice (especially social justice) is an important prerequisite of sustainable, inclusive, and lasting peace. Peace without justice and justice without peace is frail. If the current democratic political system is an item of discussion, we expect the government negotiators not to compromise on justice, economic, social, and cultural rights.• During the 40 years of war, millions of Afghans have fallen victim to oppression and injustice. An important contributing factor has been impunity. Experience from other parts of the world shows that the more just a peace process is, the more stable would be. Therefore, we call on the negotiating parties to pave the way for the implementation of transitional justice. The process may include steps from a trial of perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and mass murder to repression and…

Despite many criticisms on the ability and political affiliation of women negotiating members, some believes that they can well-represent Afghan women in the peace talks. In interview with CSHRN, Zohrah Nawrozi, a member of parliament, argued that despite having symbolic role, women’s presence in peace negotiations would benefit the wider Afghan women and preserve core values, including human rights, republic system, the constitution, and women human rights. CSHRN: What are women’s concerns about peace talks? Zohrah: Women’s main concern is about their social and political rights to be compromised in the talks with the Taliban. CSHRN: What issues related to women should be further discussed in the negotiations? Zohrah: Women’s social and political rights must be openly discussed with the Taliban. In remote areas, most people still underestimate women’s ability in carrying out challenging tasks. Due to traditional barriers, women, mainly at the district level, have been kept in the dark side, and less or no chance has been given to them to flourish their talent. Therefore, women related issues must be given a priority during the talks with the Taliban. Afghan women should NOT be dragged back to the 1990s, rather their gains and opportunities must be preserved. CSHRN: What is your understanding of the outcome of the peace talks? Zohrah: The outcome of the peace talks largely depends on the government negotiating team’s ability to reap the benefit of the current opportunity in favor of Afghan people. The team should not compromise on the core values Afghan people have achieved such as the constitutional rights. CSHRN: Are you optimistic about the outcome of the peace talks? Zohrah: Good management, women’s meaningful participation, and full implementation of the peace agreement will lead to a positive outcome that should also be monitored and guaranteed by the international community,…

Taliban’s disbelief and lack of adherence to the peace agreement is one of the major concerns among citizens. Experts believe that Taliban are untrustworthy, and therefore, they should guarantee to remain committed to the peace deal.In an interview with the CSHRN, Mr. Farhad Abrar, a political analyst, said that to ensure sustainable peace, the international community and regional countries involved in peace talks must act as the main mediators to guarantee Taliban’s commitment, especially with regards to women’s rights. Otherwise, lasting peace cannot be hoped for.CSHRN: Have the Taliban view of women changed?Abrar: Based on what the Taliban have spoken with the media, it can be inferred that there has been no fundamental change to their views and they do not yet respect women’s rights.CSHRN: Can the Afghan negotiating team change the Taliban view of women?Abrar: The presence of influential women with negotiating skills, and ability to have reasonable dialogue, and maneuver delicate margins, could have persuaded the Taliban to respect women’s rights and agree with their presence as non-separable part of the society. According to Mr. Abrar, the government has failed in terms of women participation both in the peace negotiation team and the High Council for National Reconciliation.CSHRN: Will the women in the negotiating team be able to have an effective dialogue with the Taliban?Abrar: Women’s contribution in the peace talks is irrefutable. However, their effectiveness is dependent to the degree of support they receive from the political parties that they are affiliated to. Without such political supports, women cannot speak from a firm position. Governments support of women can help them to have an effective dialogue. Mr. Abrar said that the government’s weak policy has given the Taliban more advantage in the peace negotiations.CSHRN: Do you think that the negotiating team composition is reasonable?Abrar: The…

According to Ms. Rezaei, in 2017, when Afghanistan was experiencing better days than the past, she decided to fulfill her long-held dream of having an independent job. She ceased the opportunity to build a coffee shop. Despite the fact that there existed the fear of societal reactions and security issues, the desire to achieve a lasting dream gave her the courage to overcome fear and continue her work. Ms. Rezaei said that although she has prevailed over anxiety and apprehension, there exists many restrictions including customs of the society, and security. For instance, due to security issues, we have to close the coffee shop early every day, and we cannot hold cultural and music programs. She spoke of the irritating atmosphere where its residence distrust women and their abilities. "When I was searching for a place for the coffee shop, most of the landlords, as soon as they found out that I was the owner of the business, did not sign an agreement” said Ms. Rezaei, “However, there are those who are happy seeing women’s work and success.” Regardless of all the challenges that she faces, the coffee shop is well-received and people of different backgrounds including students, employees, and artists enjoy the atmosphere. Meeting people of different groups is a unique experience for her. Ms. Rezaei says that so far she has not considered closing the coffeehouse under any circumstances, including the global phenomena of Coronavirus; because in addition to loving it, she does not want the management abilities of women to be questioned. The start of a peace negotiation with the Taliban has caused major concerns for women, and has increased the fear that their achievements and years of sacrifices might be ignored. Ms. Rezaei has not ceased working under any circumstances but, the peace talk…

She speaks of her interest to work in media and of her family’s resistance to it. She said that the public’s negative image of media was the main reason of her family’s opposition to her activity in this sector. Moreover, people did not allow their daughters to work in the media. Killing journalists made it even worse.Sodaba Nasiri  has a bachelor’s degree from economics department, and has participated a training in journalism. After graduating from school at the age of sixteen, she overcame her family’s fear by starting her job dubbing in a private television. Although she passed the exam for the position of newscaster, she had to start dubbing because of her young age. She temporarily quitted her work, to pursue her education. It has been three years since she restarted her work in media as a women’s rights activist and director of economic programs. Despite the fact that women working in media tolerate harassment and the accusation for promoting inappropriate social behavior by majority of the  people, she appears on television as newscaster. Moreover, women face harassment in social media which harms them psychologically. She added that she has been constantly harassed on social media. to the degree that it created distrust between her and her family.  Another challenge of working in a media is that there is no social or financial insurance for the employees. She had to sign a contract stating that the media she worked at had no responsibility whatsoever with regards to her life or financial insurance.The most serious challenge for employed women is not the security threats posed by the Taliban or ISIS, but the people who are supportive of their ideologies. She said that she knew from the beginning that her work might be disrupted considering security threats which is serious…

As the time for inter-Afghan talks approaches and the citizens insist on a permanent ceasefire, officials at the Ministry of State for Peace are announcing the government's efforts to remove obstacles to peace talks.In an interview with the CSHRN, Najia Anwari said that since ceasefire from the beginning of negotiation is the demand of all Afghans, the government of Afghanistan is working to eliminate obstacles to the progress of peace. She added that the peace agreement should lead to a permanent cessation of hostilities and pave the path for peace and reconciliation in different parts of society.CSHRN: Does the government’s negotiation team have the necessary preparation and capacity to participate in these talks?Anwari: The peace negotiating team was created after extensive consultations with politicians and influential Afghans. Men and women of diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds who are educated, professional, experienced, and are politically supported are considered to form an inclusive structure.According to her, the team has worked to improve its skills and strengthen the necessary capabilities since its inception.CSHRN: What have been the government's plans to strengthen the quality of the negotiating team so far?Anwari: High quality training programs have been established with the aim of strengthening the skills of negotiators and information in various sections has been prepared to increase technical capacity and strengthen the content that the members of the negotiating team should possess with respect to peace.At the same time, she added that conducting the recent meetings with the people and receiving their views and suggestions on the peace process have added to the richness of the information of the members of the negotiating team.CSHRN: What issues related to women will be discussed in the talks?Anwari: It is too early to talk about, but the government and the Ministry of Peace Affairs are holding…

Gender discrimination has always been discussed as one of the serious social problems, especially for women. Women in various provinces, including Badakhshan, see this phenomenon as a barrier to their social activities and believe that the problem will be partially resolved after peace agreements."Gender discrimination is one of the biggest concerns for every woman in Afghanistan and is rooted in society," said Elena Ghiasi in an interview with the CSHRN.  “Currently, there exist sexual attitudes towards women, and the possible peace agreement will be political and social, in which case these problems will be partially eliminated."CSHRN: Where do you think the root of this problem is?Ghiasi: These problems take its roots from family, and then it expands in the society; restrictions in families are imposed by husband, father, or brother. In the absence of these restrictions, however, even women who lack the necessary confidence can participate in training to strengthen their self-confidence and put their abilities to use. According to Ms Ghiasi, women in this province are mostly employed in the handicrafts, livestock and agriculture sectors.CSHRN: What other problems do women in Badakhshan have?Ghiasi: The presence of armed opposition in rural areas has been challenging and violating women's rights. Although better than before another problem is the access to welfare facilities, which is more concentrated in the urban areas and women in the rural areas have not been provided with sufficient services.CSHRN: You mentioned that with the accomplishment of peace, women's problems will be solved to some extent, however, what are the women's concerns about the outcome of the peace talks?Ghiasi: Women are concerned about retreating to the past and losing their achievements of the past two decades. They are worried that the role of women in various fields will be ignored.According to Ms Ghiasi, the existence of…

One of the major concerns of Afghan citizens, especially women, about the possibility of the Taliban gaining power in the aftermath of the peace talks is their lack of respect to women’s rights. Some analysts  believe that the Taliban's strict view is their identity. "It is incomprehensible that the Taliban are ready to change their radical and extreme views," said Ahmad Zia Rafat, in an interview with the CSHRN, " if they give up extremism, they will become a movement  without identity." Mr Rafat added that the Taliban could not relinquish the beliefs they had been propagating for years to gain so many followers, and would therefore insist on believing them. Taliban’s view of women is essential to their identity.   CSHRN: Given what you have said about the immutability of Taliban’s view of women, do you think women will experience the era of Taliban? Rafat: If the Taliban are given the opportunity and the share of power, they will undoubtedly disrupt the progress of democracy in Afghanistan; that is, even if there is no government like the Taliban era and they cannot stop the progress of democracy, they will at least delay it, which will be a serious damage to Afghanistan. CSHRN: What is the government's red line on women and what issues regarding women should be discussed in the negotiations? Rafat: Any rights enshrined by the constitution and guaranteed by other laws, is the government's red line and must be accepted. When it comes to women's rights, it does not only mean  right to education, but also that women can do whatever men do in the societyincluding being able to work in various fields such asarts. According to Mr. Rafat, accepting any restrictions on women's rights in peace talks will further increase the Taliban's restrictions and…

Referring to peace talks and expressing concern about the fate of women's rights in post-peace society, a number of scholars believe that not only is it the inalienable right of women to exercise their rights and work in various fields after the peace agreement, but society also needs women to thrive.In an interview with the Civil Society and Human Rights Network (hereafter referred to as “Network”), Sediqi Lalzad said that Afghan women, as citizens of the country, have rights that should be taken into account in a post-peace society.  Lalzad added that women have the right to attend public affairs as their inalienable rights. The society also needs women in the fields of medicine, education and police. It should also be noted that women's activity in society is a right that religion has provided for them.Network: What is your assessment of what has happened so far in the peace talks?Lalzad: We believe in peace in the country; but the success of these talks also depends on how honest the politicians are and how well the countries involved in Afghanistan's affairs can play their part for a better Afghanistan. There is no doubt that achieving peace has its phases and there will be challenges. But if the Afghan government, the Taliban and the institutions that mediate act in good faith, peace can be achieved. The reason for the deadlocks is that Afghanistan has experienced war for forty years and it cannot be ended in two days or two months. But despite being a time-consuming process, it is promising, provided that the international partners play their part well.Network: Given the Taliban’s history, do you think that the negotiations will have a positive outcome?Lalzad: Women are in a different position than they were during the Taliban’s rule. They are aware of…