This Tuesday, the Department of State (DOS) confirmed the release of two Americans who were detained by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. According to department spokesman Ned Price, he assured that it was not an exchange but "a gesture of goodwill":
We understand to have been a goodwill gesture on the part of the Taliban. This was not part of any swap of prisoners or detainees. There was no money that exchanged hands. We understand this, or at least the Taliban characterized this to us, as a goodwill gesture.
In addition, a senior Biden Administration official confirmed that the two freed Americans were flown from Kabul, Afghanistan, to Doha, Qatar, and that the Qatari government acted as an intermediary between the United States and the Taliban regime. Price did not disclose the identities of the two:
We are providing these two U.S. nationals with all appropriate assistance. They will soon be reunited with their loved ones, and we are absolutely gratified to see that. Out of respect for the privacy of these individuals and their families, we will not confirm the names.
Women banned from studying at Afghan universities
The release comes on the same day that the Taliban regime banned women from studying at universities and girls from secondary schools in the Asian country. In addition, they must be covered from head to toe in public places. In this regard, the DOS spokesman condemned the Islamic emirate's decision:
The irony of them granting us a goodwill gesture on a day when they undertake a gesture like this to the Afghan people, it’s not lost on us. But it is a question for the Taliban themselves regarding the timing of this. The United States condemns, in the strongest terms, the Taliban’s indefensible decision to ban women from universities, to keep secondary schools closed to girls, and to continue to impose other restrictions on the ability of women and girls in Afghanistan to exercise their human rights and their fundamental freedoms.
To which he added:
The Taliban’s decision to close secondary schools to girls last March has had a significant impact on our engagement with the Taliban representatives. The Taliban made promises to the people of Afghanistan and to the international community that schools would reopen. They claimed that this was a matter of procedures and arrangements and would be quickly reversed. Now, we hear the opposite: An order from the so-called Higher Education Ministry yesterday states that women cannot attend universities either. With the implementation of this decree, half of the Afghan population will soon be unable to access education beyond primary school.
"They cannot be a legitimate member of the international community."
The Taliban regime's lack of respect for human rights is the necessary argument for Price's claim that they cannot be part of the international community:
The United States condemns in the strongest terms the Taliban's indefensible decision to ban women from universities. The Taliban cannot expect to be a legitimate member of the international community until they respect the rights of all in Afghanistan.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken shared the words of his spokesman:
Deeply dismayed by the announcement from the Taliban denying women the right to a university education. Afghan women deserve better. Afghanistan deserves better. The Taliban have just definitely set back their objective of being accepted by the international community.
