Afghans hold rallies in different countries to protest against Doha summit

Ahead of the Doha summit, Afghans organized protest rallies in several countries.

Fahim Farwak, a member of a coalition of human rights activists and one of the organizers of the mass protests, told Radio Azadi:

“Our compatriots have held protests in France, and further protests are expected in Berlin, Cologne and Stuttgart in Germany, the Netherlands, Tehran, Islamabad in Pakistan, Washington, Toronto in Switzerland and Delhi in India.”

These protests have already taken place in Pakistan, Iran and India, and are planned for other countries on Saturday, June 29, and Sunday, June 30.

Protesters said the exclusion of women representatives and civil society activists from the Doha conference and the Taliban’s participation were worrying and undermined the UN’s credibility.

Rakhshanah Rezaei, founder of a powerful Afghan women’s movement and one of the organizers of the massive protests, told RFE/RL:

“The purpose of these protests is to exclude women from this conference and its agenda, which is very cruel. This conference is extremely worrying for Afghan women. I think this conference has reduced the credibility of the United Nations.”

Various women’s protest movements criticized the Doha conference agenda, condemning the Taliban’s participation and the absence of women representatives and civil society from the conference.

Meanwhile, Nasir Ahmed Andisha, acting head of Afghanistan’s permanent mission to the UN Human Rights Council, criticized the organization of the third Doha conference as favorable to the Taliban.

In an article published on the online platform “Justice Security” on Friday, June 28, she said that the United Nations and representatives of countries and organizations in Doha excluded Afghan women and civil society representatives from the main summit in Doha, where the Taliban had agreed to the protocol, agenda and participants.

Nasir Ahmad Andisha said the majority of non-Taliban Afghans, especially citizens and political opponents both inside and outside the country, were once again being ignored, which he said was a serious problem.

But Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special representative for Afghanistan, who plans to represent Moscow at the third Doha summit, expressed hope that the meeting would be useful.

He told Russia’s TASS news agency that the meeting would be useful for the Taliban to establish close and constructive cooperation with the international community.

The two-day Doha conference will begin tomorrow, Sunday, with representatives from about 25 countries and some organizations attending.