UN adopts resolution on Afghanistan’s Taliban rule over U.S. objections

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UNITED NATIONS — The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution Monday over U.S. objections calling on Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to reverse their worsening oppression of women and girls and eliminate all terrorist organizations.

The 11-page resolution also emphasizes “the importance of creating opportunities for economic recovery, development and prosperity in Afghanistan,” and urges donors to address the country’s dire humanitarian and economic crisis.

The resolution is not legally binding but is seen as a reflection of world opinion. The vote was 116 in favour, with two — the United States and close ally Israel — opposed and 12 abstentions, including Russia, China, India and Iran.

Since returning to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have imposed harsh measures, banning women from public places and girls from attending school beyond the sixth grade. Last week, Russia became the first country to formally recognize the Taliban’s government.

Germany’s UN Ambassador Antje Leendertse, whose country sponsored the resolution, told the assembly before the vote that her country and many others remain gravely concerned about the dire human rights situation in Afghanistan, especially the Taliban’s “near-total erasure” of the rights of women and girls.

The core message of the resolution, she said, is to tell Afghan mothers holding sick and underfed children or mourning victims of terrorist attacks, as well as the millions of Afghan women and girls locked up at home, that they have not been forgotten.

U.S. minister-counsellor Jonathan Shrier was critical of the resolution, which he said rewards “the Taliban’s failure with more engagement and more resources.” He said the Trump administration doubts they will ever pursue policies “in accordance with the expectations of the international community.

“For decades we shouldered the burden of supporting the Afghan people with time, money and, most important, American lives,” he said. “It is the time for the Taliban to step up. The United States will no longer enable their heinous behaviour.”

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Last month, the Trump administration banned Afghans hoping to resettle in the U.S. permanently and those seeking to come temporarily, with exceptions.

The resolution expresses appreciation to governments hosting Afghan refugees, singling out the two countries that have taken the most: Iran and Pakistan. Shrier also objected to this, accusing Iran of executing Afghans “at an alarming rate without due process” and forcibly conscripting Afghans into its militias.

While the resolution notes improvements in Afghanistan’s overall security situation, it reiterates concern about attacks by al-Qaida and Islamic State militants and their affiliates. It calls upon Afghanistan “to take active measures to tackle, dismantle and eliminate all terrorist organizations equally and without discrimination.”

The General Assembly also encouraged UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to appoint a co-ordinator to facilitate “a more coherent, co-ordinated and structured approach” to its international engagements on Afghanistan.