KABUL: Small groups of Afghan women on Friday staged rare demonstrations to mark International Women’s Day in private spaces, after a crackdown by Taliban authorities forced activists off the streets.
Since surging back to power in August 2021, Taliban authorities have imposed a strict interpretation of Islam, with women bearing the brunt of curbs the United Nations has labelled “gender apartheid.”
Women have been squeezed from public life, barred from traveling without a male relative and banned from certain jobs, secondary school and university, as well as from parks, fairs and gyms.
A handful of women in several provinces gathered to demand restrictions be lifted, according to activists from the Purple Saturdays group, which protests Taliban government curbs on women.
In northern Takhar province, images circulated by activists showed seven women holding papers obscuring their faces, reading “Rights, Justice, Freedom.”
“Our silence and fear is the biggest weapon of the Taliban,” a demonstrator whose face was covered said in a video.
In Balkh province, several women also held up signs saying, “Don’t give the Taliban a chance” in front of a banner reading “Save Afghanistan Women.”
On Thursday, around 20 women gathered at an office for an event organized by the Afghanistan Association of the Blind in northern Mazar-i-Sharif city.
“The gates of schools, universities and offices should be opened for all women,” said one attendee, who remained anonymous for security reasons, during the meeting.
“It is very painful that a woman has no value in our society today. She cannot use any of her rights.”
“Women make up half of human society as mothers, wives, sisters, daughters and teachers. The holy religion of Islam is not against women’s work and education,” another added.
Also on Thursday, the Independent Coalition of Afghanistan Women’s Protest Movement issued a statement demanding “immediate and serious action from the international community against the clear violation of human rights and obvious crimes the Taliban are committing against Afghan women.”
The UN mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, on Friday urged the Taliban government to lift restrictions on women and girls, saying not doing so risked “further pushing the country into deeper poverty and isolation.”
“The space for Afghan women and girls continues to shrink at an alarming pace, and with it Afghanistan’s future prospects to escape a vicious cycle of war, poverty, and isolation,” said Alison Davidian, Special Representative for UN Women in Afghanistan, in a statement.
Taliban authorities have repeatedly dismissed such international criticism as propaganda.
On Friday, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the Taliban government was committed to women’s rights within the framework of Islam, according to an interview with Tolo News.
Women have protested sporadically against rules handed down by the Taliban authorities, but often in small groups and indoors out of fear of reprisals, after several activists were detained for months.
On Friday, the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, called on the Taliban government “to immediately and unconditionally release all those who have been arbitrarily detained for defending human rights, especially the rights of women and girls.”
Street protests in Afghanistan have in the past been broken up by security forces firing guns into the air, including during a demonstration last summer after beauty salons were shut down.
Last March, about 20 women held a rare protest in the streets of Kabul for International Women’s Day.
Afghan women stage rare protests on International Women’s Day
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Afghan women stage rare protests on International Women’s Day
- A handful of women in several provinces gathered to demand restrictions be lifted
- In northern Takhar province, images circulated by activists showed seven women holding papers obscuring their faces, reading “Rights, Justice, Freedom”
Missing crew member in North Sea crash likely ‘deceased’: UK minister
LONDON: A crew member missing after a cargo ship struck a tanker in the North Sea off the British coast is presumed dead, a UK government minister said Tuesday.
“Our working assumption is that, very sadly, the sailor is deceased,” junior transport minister Mike Kane told the British parliament, adding that the man’s family had been informed.
Pakistan separatists say they have taken 182 hostages in train attack
QUETTA: Separatist militants in southwest Pakistan said they had taken 182 hostages including military personnel on Tuesday in an attack on a train and threatened to kill them if security forces did not leave the area.
The train, which had about 400 passengers, was trapped in a tunnel and the driver was badly wounded, local authorities, police and railway officials said, without confirming the Baloch Liberation Army’s account of hostages.
Security forces said an explosion had been heard near the tunnel and that they were exchanging fire with the militants in a mountainous area.
The BLA, which seeks independence for Balochistan province bordering both Afghanistan and Iran, said it had killed 20 soldiers and shot down a drone. There was no confirmation of that from Pakistani authorities.
The group said it had taken 182 hostages from the train, including Pakistan army members and other security officials traveling on leave.
“Civilian passengers, particularly women, children, the elderly, and Baloch citizens, have been released safely and given a secure route,” it said in a statement emailed to journalists and posted on Telegram.
“The BLA further warns that if military intervention continues, all hostages will be executed.”
The Jaffar Express had been on its way from Balochistan’s capital Quetta to the city of Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when it was fired on.
Pakistan’s interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, condemned the attack and said the government would not make any concessions to “beasts who fire on innocent passengers.”
The Balochistan government has imposed emergency measures to deal with the situation, spokesperson Shahid Rind said, without giving more details.
The BLA is the biggest of several ethnic groups battling the government for decades, saying it unfairly exploits Balochistan’s rich gas and mineral resources.
The conflict has seen frequent attacks against the government, army and Chinese interests in the region.
Saudi-run terminal in Chittagong expands as major hub for Bangladesh’s foreign trade
- Red Sea Gateway Terminal is the first foreign company to operate Bangladeshi ports
- It is now exploring new opportunities, including in the country’s deep-sea port
DHAKA: Saudi developer Red Sea Gateway Terminal, which last year started operations at Bangladesh’s largest port, plans further expansion as it already facilitates about 10 percent of the country’s imports and exports.
Chittagong Port is the busiest container port on the Bay of Bengal. Last year, it handled about 3.3 million TEU, or 20-foot equivalent units, serving as the main gateway for Bangladesh’s ocean cargo import and export.
RSGT, which in June last year started operations at Chittagong’s Patenga Container Terminal, is the first foreign company operating Bangladeshi ports.
According to its agreement with the Chittagong Port Authority, RSGT will run the terminal for the next 22 years.
“RSGT Chittagong operates 24/7, 365 days a year, ensuring seamless and uninterrupted service for the trade community … Our operations facilitate around 10 percent of Bangladesh’s total imports and exports,” Erwin Haaze, CEO of RSGT Bangladesh, told Arab News on Monday.
“We manage all containerized shipments passing through Patenga Terminal efficiently, facilitating smooth trade for a diverse range of industries, from manufacturing to retail.”
The company is steadily increasing the terminal’s output and is expected to have a maximum annual capacity of 600,000 TEU.
It also plans to more than double its permanent workforce.
“RSGT has plans to invest approximately $170 million in the RSGT Terminal. This investment has already created more than 300 permanent jobs, which are expected to increase to more than 700 when in full operation,” Haaze said.
“Regarding indirect employment, RSGT Chittagong is committed to growing with the community and has engaged with many local vendors to participate in different tasks in RSGT Chittagong. With further expansions, we anticipate generating even more job opportunities in the coming years.”
Following the success of the Patenga Terminal, Saudi investors are exploring more opportunities in port-related sectors in Bangladesh, including the Matarbari Port — the country’s first deep-sea port, which the government wants to build some 120 km south of the Chittagong Port.
Saudi Ambassador to Dhaka Essa Al-Duhailan told Arab News that talks with the relevant authorities were already underway.
“The investment in Chottogram (Chittagong) Bay Terminal is between $300 million and $400 million, and the other one (Matarbari Deep Sea Port) will be maybe $700 million to $800 million,” he said.
“The intention is there, and the willingness is there. The excellent performance of the Saudi company, Red Sea Gateway, is already shown to the Bangladeshis and they are satisfied … The experience is encouraging so far.”
Philippine ex-president Duterte arrested after ICC warrant
- Court estimates death toll from Duterte’s anti-drug campaign could be 30,000
- Any state can comply with ICC arrest warrant, human rights lawyer says
MANILA: Former President Rodrigo Duterte was taken into custody on Tuesday after the Philippine government said it received an International Criminal Court warrant over his involvement in suspected crimes against humanity related to the country’s bloody “war on drugs.”
The ICC had been investigating Duterte over his administration’s deadly anti-drugs campaign, in which according to official data over 6,000 Filipinos were killed during the ex-president’s six-year term since 2016. ICC prosecutors estimate, however, that the number of extrajudicial killings committed by security forces could be as many as 30,000.
He was arrested at Manila’s main airport after returning from a trip to Hong Kong, the office of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in a statement.
“Earlier this morning, Interpol Manila received the official copy of the arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court,” the Presidential Communications Office said.
“Upon his arrival, the prosecutor general presented the ICC notification for an arrest warrant against the former president for crimes against humanity … As of now, he is in the custody of the authorities.”
Duterte won the Philippine presidency in 2016 on a promise to eradicate illegal drugs, after serving for more than two decades as mayor of Davao, the second-largest city in the Philippines, where he allegedly ran a deadly anti-drug crackdown with impunity.
The ensuing nationwide campaign drew international condemnation.
The 79-year-old has repeatedly defended the crackdown and denied the extrajudicial killing of alleged drug suspects, although he has also openly admitted to instructing police to kill in self-defense.
Duterte officially withdrew the Philippines from the ICC in 2019 as it began to look into allegations of systematic killings under his leadership.
But under the court’s withdrawal mechanism, it keeps jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed while a country was a member. While the Philippine government had refused to cooperate, the Marcos administration signaled in November that it would comply if an arrest warrant was issued.
The Philippines also remains a member of Interpol, which can seek Duterte’s arrest on behalf of the ICC.
“Under the rules of the ICC, any state, whether a state party or non-state party, can accede to the request of the ICC,” human rights lawyer Neri Colmenares told Arab News.
For the families of victims of Duterte’s deadly anti-drug campaign, his arrest has sparked new hopes for justice.
“The families of the victims see a light in, at least a glimmer of light, at the end of the tunnel for their search for justice for their loved ones who were mercilessly killed during the time of President Duterte,” Colmenares, who also serves as one of the legal counsels for the families, said.
“We will demand from President Marcos … that he should pursue the ends of justice, because that is his obligation under the Philippine laws, to execute the law and, of course, afford justice to the Filipino people.”
Rights group Karapatan is also calling on Marcos to make sure that Duterte “is actually delivered to the ICC for detention and trial.”
If transferred to the Hague, Duterte may become Asia’s first former head of state to go on trial at the ICC.
“(Marcos) should also cooperate in ensuring that Duterte is convicted by making available to the International Criminal Court additional pieces of evidence in the hands of the government,” Maria Sol Taule, Karapatan deputy secretary-general, said in a statement.
“With Duterte’s arrest, the Filipino people are hopefully a step closer to attaining justice and accountability for Duterte’s many crimes.”
Beijing warns UK against ‘provoking tensions’ over South China Sea
- China claims the strategically important waterway in nearly its entirety
- ‘The South China Sea is currently one of the safest and freest maritime routes in the world’
BEIJING: China warned Britain on Tuesday against “provoking tensions” in the South China Sea after its foreign minister David Lammy called Beijing’s actions in the disputed waters “dangerous and destabilising.”
In a video partly filmed alongside a vessel belonging to the Philippine Coast Guard, Lammy on Monday condemned “dangerous and destabilising activities” by Beijing in the South China Sea.
China claims the strategically important waterway in nearly its entirety, despite an international ruling that its claims have no legal basis.
Asked about Lammy’s comments, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said “the UK should respect China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea and refrain from provoking tensions or sowing discord over regional disputes.”
“The South China Sea is currently one of the safest and freest maritime routes in the world,” Mao said.
Beijing has deployed navy and coast guard vessels in a bid to bar Manila from crucial reefs and islands in the South China Sea, leading to a string of confrontations in recent months.
In a Saturday meeting with his Filipino counterpart Enrique Manalo, Britain and the Philippines signed a joint framework to boost defense and maritime cooperation.
The Philippines has similar agreements with the United States, Australia and Japan.
