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The appointment of a religious affairs official of Afghanistan’s former Taliban regime to the country’s new parliament is prompting concern among international human rights advocates. “There’s a growing feeling of an opportunity lost,” said Sam Zarifi, Asia research director with Human Rights Watch, a New York-based human rights organization, after his return in December from a three-week visit to Afghanistan. Zarifi’s visit coincided with the convening on 19 December of Afghanistan’s first democratically elected parliament following the ousting of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a United States-led military campaign.
But he said the appointment of Arsala Rahmani, a high-ranking official of the Taliban religious affairs ministry, to the parliament’s upper house was contributing to a feeling of “real pessimism” among human rights groups inside and outside the country.
“A lot of Afghans see his presence now and ask, ‘Why is he back?’” Zarifi noted about Rahmani. The former Taliban official was appointed to the upper house by President Hamid Karzai, who has backing from the United States and western allies
The appointment of a religious affairs official of Afghanistan’s former Taliban regime to the country’s new parliament is prompting concern among international human rights advocates. “There’s a growing feeling of an opportunity lost,” said Sam Zarifi, Asia research director with Human Rights Watch, a New York-based human rights organization, after his return in December from a three-week visit to Afghanistan. Zarifi’s visit coincided with the convening on 19 December of Afghanistan’s first democratically elected parliament following the ousting of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a United States-led military campaign.
But he said the appointment of Arsala Rahmani, a high-ranking official of the Taliban religious affairs ministry, to the parliament’s upper house was contributing to a feeling of “real pessimism” among human rights groups inside and outside the country.
“A lot of Afghans see his presence now and ask, ‘Why is he back?’” Zarifi noted about Rahmani. The former Taliban official was appointed to the upper house by President Hamid Karzai, who has backing from the United States and western allies