February 7, 2026
Press Release
Lahore
Speakers at the 6th Asma Jahangir Conference 2026 cautioned that engagement with the Taliban without accountability has emboldened the group, deepened human rights violations—particularly against women—and failed to produce stability or regional security.
The discussion took place during the session “Engaging with the Taliban or Holding Them Accountable?”, moderated by Samina Ahmed, Senior Asia Adviser and South Asia Director of the International Crisis Group, and included Richard Bennett, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan; Patricia Gossman, Associate Director of the Asia Division at Human Rights Watch; Fawzia Koofi, former Deputy Speaker of the Afghan Parliament and former peace negotiator with the Taliban; and Bilal Azhar Kayani, Pakistan’s Minister of State for Finance and Revenue.
The session examined whether diplomatic engagement with the Taliban has yielded any tangible improvements in governance, human rights, or regional security, with speakers largely concluding that sustained engagement has failed in the absence of accountability and clear conditionalities.
Former Afghan parliamentarian Fawzia Koofi offered a firsthand account of negotiations with the Taliban, arguing that women’s rights were repeatedly used as a diplomatic bargaining tool. She recalled questioning US Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad during the Doha peace talks about the absence of guarantees for the protection of women’s rights. According to Koofi, the response she received exposed the unequal nature of the negotiations, because strategic and military considerations took precedence over Afghan lives and rights. She said the Doha process ultimately emboldened the Taliban while sidelining Afghan women and civil society.
Richard Bennett, UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, traced the Taliban’s consolidation of power through a gradual rollback of human rights. He noted that girls’ education was suspended soon after the Taliban takeover under the pretext of being a temporary measure, but remains closed to this day. Even limited exceptions, such as allowing women to pursue medical education, were later withdrawn. Bennett described this rollback as a key indicator of the Taliban’s governing approach and a deliberate strategy rather than an administrative failure.
Sharing insights from his engagement with the Taliban, Bennett said that in early interactions, Taliban representatives did not outright reject the language of human rights and instead framed themselves as victims of what they called “western double standards.” However, he observed a clear shift once reporting began to focus on women’s rights and civil society, at which point access narrowed and subtle warnings emerged. Bennett also urged Pakistan to adhere to its international human rights obligations, particularly the principle of non-refoulement, calling for a review of the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan (IFRP) and individualized assessments to protect at-risk Afghan groups.
Patricia Gossman of Human Rights Watch emphasized that the Taliban takeover was not a sudden event but the result of long-standing institutional decay. She stressed the need for accountability by asking difficult questions about what failed in Afghanistan and who bore responsibility for those failures, arguing that without such scrutiny, cycles of impunity would persist.
From Pakistan’s perspective, Bilal Azhar Kayani, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue, stated that peace and diplomacy—including the Doha Accords—were given every possible opportunity but failed due to the Taliban’s lack of intent to implement agreed commitments. He noted that key assurances, such as forming an inclusive government and preventing Afghan soil from being used for cross-border attacks, were repeatedly violated. Kayani further warned that Taliban support for militant groups targeting Pakistan has become increasingly evident, leaving the state with no option but to prioritize the protection of its citizens. He stressed that any engagement with the Taliban, particularly financial assistance, must be strictly conditioned on the formation of an inclusive government and demonstrable commitments to peace and human rights.
The session concluded with a shared assessment that engagement without accountability has strengthened the Taliban’s grip while eroding human rights and regional security, reinforcing calls for principled diplomacy anchored in clear conditions and international law.