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Law students and lawyers in Afghanistan are filing reports with JURIST on the situation on the ground since the Taliban takeover. Here, a young lawyer in Kabul reports on the complications Taliban governance has wrought for young lawyers wishing to regain their rights to practice in the country. For privacy and security reasons, we are withholding our correspondents name. The text has only been lightly edited to respect the authors voice.

The Afghanistan Independent Bar Association was merged with the Talibans Ministry of Justice right after they seized power in August last year. The Taliban merged the bar association into the Ministry of Justices organizational framework as a general directorate, despite efforts by several advocacy groups to protect the bar associations independence.

The organization of the ministry has been expanded to include the bar directorate, and a procedure was later created to govern its daily operations. In accordance to this procedure, in order to practice law in Afghanistan, every licensed attorney is required to pass a new evaluation exam.

To assess the legal and Islamic knowledge of attorneys who are interested in taking the test and obtaining a new license, a new testing mechanism was established.

The exam was divided into two main components that tested applicants legal and Islamic knowledge, respectively. Although the major purpose of the exam was to assess applicants understanding of Islam, the testing committee also posed questions about business laws, the penal code, arbitration, inheritance law, and other topics.

In accordance with the new procedure, a committee comprising five members mainly appointed on the basis of their knowledge of Islamic law is appointed to evaluate an attorney who shows interest in obtaining a new license to practice law. The procedure does not limit gender diversity for obtaining a legal license but unfortunately, no female attorneys have yet been given a license. In addition, the Ministry of Justice has not made any apparent effort to inspire female lawyers to obtain new licenses.

The result of the second round of the evaluation test can be accessed here.

I have interviewed two attorneys who succeeded in the last two exams under the new Taliban protocol, and below are the details they provided regarding the new testing procedures:

Question: Did you have a license to practice law previously?

Answer: Yes, I did.

Question: Did you represent any clients in court proceedings prior to taking and passing the new bar exam?

Answer: No. I was unable to do so. For a short period of time we were given the permit to continue based on our old license but during that period the judicial and prosecution agencies were largely inactive.

Question: How did you apply to obtain the new license?

Answer: I wrote a request letter to the Ministry of Justice. The letter was submitted to the Chief of Staff of the Ministry and once I received the requisite signatures, I received authorization to take the evaluation. The test date was then announced on the ministrys website and applicants were called for the evaluation test.

Question: How was the exam conducted?

Answer: There is a committee of five authorized members in the evaluation room. They have a list of subjects from which they ask prepared questions. The evaluation room is equipped with cameras.

Question: Were you able to identify any female attorneys who came for the evaluation test?

Answer: No. There were no female applicants.

Question: Why do you think no female lawyers were in attendance?

Answer: There are a number of significant reasons why female lawyers are unable to attend the test. In particular, most women fear participating and practicing within the Talibans judicial and prosecution agencies and many are discouraged from working as lawyers in the country. Generally speaking, the Talibans mentality toward gender roles in education and professional life has caused women not to attend the evaluation test.

Question: What sorts of religious questions you were asked?

Answer: The test was on basic Islamic issues such as specific procedures as related court hearings, and issues like praying five times a day. Those with the greatest awareness of Islamic rules and principles seemed to have better opportunities to obtain their new law licenses.

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Afghanistan dispatch: new Taliban bar exam procedures and the notable absence of new women attorneys - JURIST

Ole Andreas Lindeman, Norwegian Ambassador to Afghanistan, said that if Afghanistans frozen assets are freed, Afghanistans economy will grow. Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, in a meeting with envoys of Japan and Norway in Doha, asked the International community to take part in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

Muttaqi said that this is the responsibility of the whole world to help and support the new government of Afghanistan, so that we can rebuild the damage caused by the four decades of war in Afghanistan, tweeted Zia Ahmad Takal, deputy spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry.

Meanwhile, Japans ambassador to Afghanistan Takashi Okada pledged $14M from Japan for Afghan agriculture and development projects in the meeting on Sunday with acring Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, Takal tweeted.

It has its own benefits if the Taliban side has a strong agenda, said Aziz Marij, former diplomat.

Ole Andreas Lindeman, Norwegian Ambassador to Afghanistan, said that if Afghanistans frozen assets are freed, Afghanistans economy will grow.

The first thing is to see if the Taliban actually changes its national and international policies or not. The second thing is that based on the demands of the Americans to make contact with the Taliban or even to recognize them, they need to show a move from their side, said Maisam Kazemi, political analyst.

The Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and his accompanying delegation met with representatives from more than ten countries during four days in Doha.Tolo News

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Acting FM Muttaqi calls on world to cooperate with Afghanistan - Pakistan Observer

A villager transporting food aid in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, in April.Credit...Bryan Denton for The New York Times

Road blocks, roadside bombs, ambushes and kidnapping were the kinds of threats aid workers operating in Afghanistan faced for two decades during the Talibans insurgency. Parts of the country were off limits entirely as the conflict ebbed and flowed, and even on open roads the risk of gun battles remained real.

Last August, however, the Taliban stormed to power, effectively ending the war and easing security for millions of residents as well as for humanitarian workers.

There is no active conflict going on now, said Babar Baloch, a spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency who started working in the country more than two decades ago. We do have more access.

That access should make it easier to bring relief after the deadliest earthquake in two decades killed at least 1,000 people and injured more than 1,600 others.

We are rushing in supplies for the earthquake and for other humanitarian emergencies, Mr. Baloch said.

But even as access has improved, other developments since last August have sent humanitarian needs soaring and brought unforeseen problems, aid workers say.

Most notable is the loss of financial, technical and security assistance from Western governments that were desperate to see the country emerge as a democracy after the Taliban was toppled in 2001.

That flood of aid more than doubled the nations annual per capita gross domestic product, from around $200 in 2001 to around $500 last year, according to World Bank figures. But those gains were not spread evenly rural areas saw less change than cities such as the capital, Kabul, and the southern city of Kandahar.

The economy has contracted sharply since the Taliban took power. Investors and foreign governments pulled back and many skilled workers fled, while the United States and other Western countries froze government bank accounts now controlled by the Taliban.

As the country struggles with drought and hunger, half of Afghanistans roughly 40 million people need humanitarian aid, the United Nations said in January as it asked member nations for more than $5 billion for the people of Afghanistan, as governments struggle with how to support a population in need while avoiding helping the Taliban itself.

Part of the Afghanistan population is already in a humanitarian crisis, with people buying expired bread that is normally fed to animals, the U.N. Resident Coordinator in Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov, said on Wednesday, referring to trends in the country over the past year. This does add to the burden of dealing with the earthquake.

In addition, aid workers face an institutional challenge rarely seen in other countries: Coordinating operations with officials who were long part of an insurgent force, but are now attempting to transition into a full-fledged government.

In one measure of the dynamic, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asked those wishing to help from any part of the world to donate to the countrys arm of the Red Crescent, which would deliver aid to victims in full transparency.

See the article here:
At Least 1,000 Killed in Afghanistan Earthquake, Officials Say

The military ranks of Afghanistan were the military insignia used by militaries of Afghanistan throughout history.

Following the return of the Taliban into power, the Islamic Emirate Armed Forces continue to use the rank insignia of the Islamic Republic Armed Forces.

The rank insignia of commissioned officers.

The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

The rank insignia of commissioned officers.

The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

The rank insignia of commissioned officers.

The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

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Military ranks of Afghanistan - Wikipedia

KABUL, June 25 (Reuters) - Vital medical supplies reached hospitals on Saturday in the remote area of Afghanistan hit by an earthquake that killed more than 1,000 people this week, as the country's Taliban government appealed for more international aid.

Authorities have called off the search for survivors in the mountainous southeastern region near the Pakistani border following's Wednesday's 6.1-magnitude quake, which also injured about 2,000 people and damaged or destroyed 10,000 homes.

Aftershocks on Friday killed at least five more people in the area some 160 km (100 miles) southeast of the capital Kabul, and medical staff said rudimentary healthcare facilities were hampering their efforts to help the injured.

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"Those injured that were in a bad condition and needed operations, (which) we can't do here, have been sent to Kabul," said Abrar, who goes by one name, the manager of a hospital in Paktika, the worst-affected province.

In Kabul, hospitals more used to treating victims of war have opened their wards to earthquake victims.

Usually we admit only war related patients or patients in life threatening conditions, but in this case we decided to make an exception in order to support the Afghan people, said Stefano Sozza, the country director for Emergency Hospital, an Italian-funded surgical centre for war victims.

One of the patients, a woman from Gayan district of Paktika, whose name Reuters is withholding for security reasons, said nine members of her family had died in the earthquake.

Afghan men try to retrieve a car from the debris of damaged houses after the recent earthquake in Wor Kali village in the Barmal district of Paktika province, Afghanistan, June 25, 2022. REUTERS/Ali Khara

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"Just I remain," she said. "My legs are broken, we have nothing; we eat what the Taliban give us."

The disaster is a major test for Afghanistan's hardline Taliban rulers, who have been shunned by many foreign governments due to concerns about human rights since they seized control of the country last year.

Afghanistan has been cut off from much direct international assistance because of Western sanctions, deepening a humanitarian crisis in swaths of the country even before this week's earthquake.

The United Nations and several other countries have rushed aid to the affected areas, with more due to arrive over the coming days, and the Taliban appealed on Saturday for further aid shipments to help quake victims.

"We call on all humanitarian organizations to help the people," said Mohammad Amen Hozifa, a spokesperson for the Paktika provincial government.

China's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday the nation would provide humanitarian aid worth 50 million yuan ($7.5 million) to Afghanistan including tents, towels, beds and other materials to help those affected by the earthquake. read more

The UN's migration agency said on Saturday it had begun distributing thousands of emergency shelters and hygiene kits in affected areas.

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Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar and Charlotte Greenfield in KabulAdditional reporting by Emma Farge in GenevaWriting by Alasdair PalEditing by Helen Popper

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Taliban appeal for more aid after deadly Afghanistan earthquake