Samuel Case, FISM News
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A United Nations committee is meeting Wednesday to discuss whether to allow the Taliban and/or Myanmar’s junta to join the body, although diplomats say it is unlikely the committee will grant credentials to either group.
The U.N. credentials committee is made up of nine members consisting of: Russia, China, the United States, the Bahamas, Bhutan, Chile, Namibia, Sierra Leone, and Sweden.
Currently Myanmar and Afghanistan have representatives in place from their previous governments, which the new ruling parties are seeking to replace. It’s expected, according to diplomats, that the committee will defer its decision on replacing the current representatives.
The meeting comes as U.N. officials have outspokenly rejected the notion of allowing either group internal recognition, given their dismal track records with human rights.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said the Taliban’s desire for a seat in the U.N is the only true leverage the international community has to pressure the militant group into upholding human rights. Likewise Guterres said, following the military takeover of Myanmar in February, that the U.N. would be applying pressure to “to make sure that this coup fails.”
Upon seizing control of Afghanistan in August the Taliban promised to be a moderate iteration of it’s previous regime, but instead the militant group’s rule has been characterized by summary executions, punitive mutilations, the oppression of women, and persecution of Christians. A recent report by Human Rights Watch says that the Taliban is responsible for the executions or forced disappearances of over 100 former Afghan security forces.
Meanwhile in Myanmar reports have emerged of systemic torture, sparking an investigation by the U.S. State Department. An October exposé by the AP revealed that Myanmar’s military, following the February coup, has killed over 1,200 people, an estimated 131 of which were tortured to death. The military has also detained approximately 9,000 people.