Day: June 24, 2022

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar has called for recognizing democracy, rule of law, good governance and respect for human rights as bedrocks of peace and stability within and among the nations.

She was addressing the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministerial Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda.

Issues of common concern including sustainable and inclusive development, post Covid recovery and democracy, peace and governance came under discussion.

Addressing the meeting, the Minister of State stressed that these values, especially respect for human rights, including the right to self-determination will only gain wider traction if they are applied universally and without discrimination.

She underscored that rights of one individual cannot take precedence over those of another. All must enjoy inherent and equal rights, and no distinction must be made on the basis of cast, colour, gender, faith or creed.

On the sidelines, the Minister of State held useful bilateral meetings with UK Minister for South Asia, Commonwealth and the UN Lord Tariq Ahmad, Foreign Minister of Jamaica Kamina Johnson Smith, Foreign Minister of Dominica Dr Kenneth Darroux and Foreign Minister of Sierra Leone, Professor David J Francis.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting is taking place after four years, making it the first such Commonwealth gathering in the post Pandemic period.

Source: Radio Pakistan

Afghanistan’s Taliban announced Friday that the United States had freed one of the last two Afghans from the U.S. military detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after 15 years.

The ruling Islamist group said Asadullah Haroon’s release was the outcome of “direct and positive interaction” between the Taliban and Washington.

The 39-year-old freed prisoner was handed over to Taliban officials in Doha, the capital of Qatar, where the group maintains its political office.

“It is a positive development,” said Suhail Shaheen, who heads the Taliban’s Doha office. He told VOA that Haroon hails from the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar.

“I call on (the) U.S. to release the only last remaining Afghan detainee now in Guantanamo jail, as well as all other detainees being kept there on mere suspicions,” demanded Shaheen. He is also the Taliban’s permanent representative-designate to the United Nations.

The other Afghan inmate is Muhammad Rahim, who is accused of being a close associate of al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden.

The U.S. Department of Defense said Wednesday that Haroon’s release followed a U.S. court ruling that the Pentagon no longer had the legal authority to detain him. The statement said a review body made up of career civil servants had additionally determined this past October that Haroon was eligible for transfer from Guantanamo Bay.

A group of U.S. senators introduced legislation this week that would prevent the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo to Afghanistan.

“It is reckless and irresponsible to release Asadullah Haroon Gul al Afghani to the Taliban,” Republican Senator Marco Rubio said in a statement, using Haroon’s legal name. “The terrorist organization that now controls Afghanistan cannot and will not ensure Gul, or any future detainees who are released, will not return to the battlefield and potentially kill Americans or other innocent civilians.”

Haroon was said to be working as a honey trader before being captured by American forces in 2007 while they were fighting al-Qaida terrorists and the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

The U.S. alleged that Haroon was an al-Qaida courier serving as a commander with the Afghan-based Hezb-e-Islami (HIA) militant group who coordinated attacks against coalition forces. The Afghan man admitted to being a member of HIA but denied any al-Qaida association.

Last October, an American court ruled that Haroon was being held unlawfully, paving the way for his transfer out of Guantanamo after languishing there for years without charge or trial.

The secretive prison once housed hundreds of suspected militants captured by U.S. forces during the “war on terror,” many held without charge or the legal power to challenge their detention.

Rights groups and detainees have accused U.S. authorities of torture and abuse against Guantanamo inmates, with some allegedly held in cages and subjected to illegal interrogation techniques. Most of the detainees have been released over the years.

“He was unanimously cleared for release by U.S. security agencies last year. Asad is finally free and about to be reunited with his family,” tweeted Reprieve, an independent group that provided legal representation to Haroon in the federal court.

“We hope the State Department will move quickly to release other detainees who have been cleared to leave but remain stuck in limbo, wondering when their long ordeal will end.”

Haroon’s family hailed his release, saying it has proved his innocence. His wife and a daughter live in Afghanistan while his brother and mother live as refugees in neighboring Pakistan, which hosts around 3 million Afghan refugees and illegal economic migrants.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has been working to reduce the number of inmates and eventually close the Guantanamo prison, which still holds around three dozen detainees.

Source: Voice of America

India has sent relief assistance to Afghanistan to help the victims of a powerful earthquake that rocked the country Wednesday along with a “technical team” to be based in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

“India, a true first responder,” Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar tweeted Friday.

The 27 tons of relief assistance includes family ridge tents, sleeping bags, blankets and sleeping mats, according to the External Affairs MInistry.

“As always, India stands in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan, with whom we share centuries-old ties, and remain firmly committed to providing immediate relief assistance for the Afghan people,” a ministry statement said.

The ministry also said Thursday that New Delhi has deployed a “technical team” to its Kabul embassy to coordinate the “effective delivery” of humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, where India has been sending aid in recent months.

India has sent aid consignments of 20,000 tons of wheat, medicine, half a million doses of COVID-19 vaccine and winter clothing to Afghanistan.

Sending the technical team to Kabul is being seen as an initial step that could lead to reestablishing India’s diplomatic presence in the country, analysts say.

“ lEA (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) welcomes decision by India to return diplomats & technical team to their embassy in Kabul to continue their relations with the Afghan people and their humanitarian assistance,” Taliban spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi tweeted.

India’s Kabul embassy was closed and Indian personnel evacuated during the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August, but earlier this month India sent a team of officials to Afghanistan for the first time, signaling its decision to engage with the Taliban leadership.

India was the region’s largest provider of development aid to Afghanistan before the takeover, and had invested around $3 billion in projects that included schools, roads, dams and hospitals.

India wants to rebuild some ties with the country where archenemy Pakistan wields considerable influence. Among regional countries, India alone was left without representation in Afghanistan after the takeover. China, Iran, Pakistan and Russia had not closed their embassies in Kabul.

Source: Voice of America

Aid began reaching parts of eastern Afghanistan on Friday to help those injured and left homeless by this week’s deadly earthquake, as the death toll from the quake rose and an aftershock hit the same area.

Afghan state media said Friday that Wednesday’s quake killed 1,150 people, while a new aftershock left five more people dead. The United Nations has confirmed the deaths of 1,036 people from the earthquake.

The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, said Friday it has rushed tons of relief items and support staff to the region.

In a statement, the UNHCR said it had dispatched supplies that include 600 tents, 4,200 blankets, 1,200 water containers, 1,200 buckets, 1,200 plastic sheets, 600 kitchen sets and 1,200 solar lamps to the area. The agency said the supplies were sent from Kabul Thursday in nine trucks.

The 5.9 earthquake struck Wednesday in remote areas of eastern and southeastern Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan. The worst-hit provinces are Paktika and Khost, with nearly 3,000 homes in the provinces destroyed, according to state media.

UNICEF, another U.N. agency, said Friday its teams were on the ground within hours of the quake.

Speaking from the capital, Kabul, UNICEF Afghanistan representative Mohamed Ayoya, said the agency is providing emergency medicine and medical supplies, as well as kits to treat children with diarrhea and to help prevent the spread of cholera, a high risk because of damaged water systems and limited hygiene.

He said 121 children died in the earthquake but said that figure is likely to rise. Another 70 children were injured.

Aid also began arriving from Pakistan, Iran, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Other countries have announced they are sending aid, including India, Japan and South Korea.

Afghan disaster ministry spokesman Mohammad Nassim Haqqani told Reuters news agency the country does not have enough supplies – particularly drugs and other medical supplies – to deal with the aftermath of such a massive earthquake.

Haqqani told Reuters the search for survivors of the quake had ended just 48 hours after it struck, without detailing why the search was called off so quickly.

The United States says the earthquake was the worst to hit the country in the last 20 years. Officials say in some areas the quake buried entire families, as it took place while many people were sleeping in mud houses.

Source: Voice of America