Foreign Relations Chairman Menendez Statement on Taliban Takeover in Afghanistan
Menendez, Shaheen and colleagues statement on Afghanistan and Taliban treatment of women
U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today issued the following statement on the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan:
“After two decades of blood and treasure including thousands of American and Afghan lives, I am horrified and saddened by the chaos engulfing Afghanistan. My heart goes out to the Afghan people whose suffering will inevitably be greater under a Taliban regime determined to wipe out all of the hard fought gains made for the rights of Afghan women, minorities and other vulnerable groups.
“The events of recent days have been the culmination of a series of mistakes made by Republican and Democratic administrations over the past 20 years. For years, I have argued that the withdrawal of U.S. forces must leave a durable political settlement in place. The wholly inadequate agreement the Trump administration made with the Taliban did not get commitments for the Taliban to break ties with Al Qaeda, nor did it account for the day after our withdrawal. In implementing this flawed plan, I am disappointed that the Biden administration clearly did not accurately assess the implications of a rapid U.S. withdrawal. We are now witnessing the horrifying results of many years of policy and intelligence failures.
“Today, we need to focus on the immediate and vital necessity of evacuating Americans as well as those vulnerable Afghans, especially women, journalists, and civil society activists who spent the past twenty years advocating for a more democratic Afghanistan who the Taliban is targeting right now. Our nation’s reputation is on the line and our whole government must be making every effort to achieve this objective. There were clear policy execution and intelligence failures associated with our withdrawal and its aftermath. How the U.S. handles the evacuation over the next few days will have implications well beyond Afghanistan and will impact our ability to build coalitions and work with partners moving forward.
“We are grateful to all the service members, diplomats, and NGO workers who have served and sacrificed in Afghanistan during the last two decades, especially those working around the clock during the last 72 hours to evacuate Americans and Afghans safely.
“The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will continue fulfilling its oversight role with a hearing on U.S. policy towards Afghanistan, including the Trump administration’s flawed negotiations with Taliban, and the Biden administration’s flawed execution of the U.S. withdrawal. The Committee will seek a full accounting for these shortcomings as well as assess why the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces collapsed so quickly. Congress was told repeatedly that the Afghan Defense and Security Forces were up to the task, that it had the troops, equipment and willingness to fight. To see this army dissolve so quickly after billions of dollars in U.S. support is astounding. The American and Afghan people clearly have not been told the truth about the ANDSF’s capacity and deserve answers. Finally, the Committee will examine the path forward, focused on the international response to the looming humanitarian and human rights catastrophe under a Taliban-led regime.”
Menendez, Shaheen Lead Senate Colleagues in Bipartisan Letter Urging Biden Admin to Protect Afghan Women Leaders in Wake of Taliban Takeover in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON – Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) today were joined by 44 of their Senate colleagues, including Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Ranking Member Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), in urging the Biden administration to take swift, robust action to protect and support Afghan women leaders facing unparalleled danger following the Taliban’s violent sweep across Afghanistan and seizure of Kabul. In a bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, the senators called on the Administration to create a humanitarian parole category specifically for women leaders, activists, human rights defenders, parliamentarians, journalists, and members of the Female Tactical Platoon of the Afghan Special Security Forces, and to streamline the paperwork process to facilitate referrals to allow for fast, humane, and efficient relocation to the United States.
“We and our staff are receiving regular reports regarding the targeting, threatening, kidnapping, torturing, and assassinations of women for their work defending and promoting democracy, equality, higher education, and human rights. While we welcomed the expansion of the eligibility requirements for Special Immigrant Visas and the creation of the Priority 2 category in the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, we must also protect those women who might fall through the cracks of the U.S. Government’s response,” the senators wrote, raising concerns over reports of rampant war crimes – including public beatings and flogging of women, sexual violence, and forced marriage – in areas captured by the Taliban. “We greatly appreciate your efforts to help save the lives of Afghans who have advanced U.S. and Afghan joint interests over the last generation, standing for peace, democracy, and equality. We are all in agreement that we owe them our unqualified support.”
In addition to expressing their support for the Administration’s efforts to evacuate those who are applying for humanitarian parole and those applying for Priority 1 or 2 pathways, including by allocating seats for them on SIV evacuation flights, the senators urged the Administration to increase processing capacity within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and to immediately appoint an interagency refugee coordinator.
“Particularly for women who are currently targets—even hunted by Taliban fighters who are going house-to-house with their names—the path to protection and safety under the Priority 2 designation is not accessible,” the senators added. “While we understand there is little processing capacity at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, for these women to access a third country for processing is almost or completely impossible with all borders crossings now closed or controlled by the Taliban.”
Joining Senators Menendez and Shaheen in signing the letter were Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.).
Dear Secretary Blinken and Secretary Mayorkas:
As the situation in Afghanistan rapidly deteriorates and the Taliban has taken control of Kabul, we appreciate the urgent measures you and the Department of Defense are taking to protect Afghan women leaders and others most at risk for retaliation by the Taliban.
We strongly urge you to create a humanitarian parole category specifically for women leaders, activists, human rights defenders, judges, parliamentarians, journalists, and members of the Female Tactical Platoon of the Afghan Special Security Forces and to streamline the paperwork process to facilitate referrals to allow for fast, humane, and efficient relocation to the United States. We also urge you to increase processing capacity within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and to immediately appoint an interagency refugee coordinator. We support your efforts to evacuate those who are applying for humanitarian parole and those applying for Priority 1 or 2 pathways, including by allocating seats for them on SIV evacuation flights. Finally, the United States should do everything possible to enable charter flights to safely land at and depart the airport even after U.S. Embassy personnel have been evacuated, and that clear instructions for safely accessing their aircraft are provided to those who are trying to depart and to organizations that have referred people and their dependents.
We are gravely concerned about the safety of women leaders, activists, judges, parliamentarians, and human rights defenders. The shocking violence and alleged atrocities occurring have caused mass displacement which, during a global pandemic and severe drought, has created a major humanitarian crisis. In areas captured by the Taliban, there are reports of war crimes including summary executions, public beatings and flogging of women, sexual violence and forced marriage, as well as clampdowns on media and other forms of communication.
We and our staff are receiving regular reports regarding the targeting, threatening, kidnapping, torturing, and assassinations of women for their work defending and promoting democracy, equality, higher education, and human rights. While we welcomed the expansion of the eligibility requirements for Special Immigrant Visas and the creation of the Priority 2 category in the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, we must also protect those women who might fall through the cracks of the U.S. Government’s response.
Particularly for women who are currently targets—even hunted by Taliban fighters who are going house-to-house with their names—the path to protection and safety under the Priority 2 designation is not accessible. While we understand there is little processing capacity at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, for these women to access a third country for processing is almost or completely impossible with all borders crossings now closed or controlled by the Taliban.
We greatly appreciate your efforts to help save the lives of Afghans who have advanced U.S. and Afghan joint interests over the last generation, standing for peace, democracy, and equality. We are all in agreement that we owe them our unqualified support.
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