Canada’s Special Representative for Afghanistan still has hope, despite Taliban’s harsh edicts

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Canada’s Special Representative for Afghanistan says that even as the Taliban enacts more egregious policies, he has hope for the country’s future.

David Sproule, who previously served as Canada’s ambassador to Afghanistan from 2005 to 2007 and has held several diplomatic posts, has the difficult task of managing Canada’s relationship with the Taliban. He speaks with them about consular cases, but also about Canada’s position and expectations regarding their policies.

Since taking control of Afghanistan in August, 2021, the Taliban have steadily stripped women and girls of their rights. They’ve prevented girls from going to school and barred their voices from being raised in public. Most recently, they announced a ban on women’s voices being heard by other women.

On the latest edict, Mr. Sproule said he’s engaged collectively with representatives of like-minded Western governments, and he’s expressed his strong opposition to what’s happening in Afghanistan. He and other Western officials met with Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesman for the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to seek clarification on the “morality edict” and its provisions and enforcement, and the Western delegations condemned it.

From Mr. Sproule’s perspective, the Taliban have not evolved at all from when they were in power previously. But they do seek to be recognized by the international community.

“This is not Taliban 2.0. This is Taliban 1.1,” he told The Globe and Mail in an interview.

Mr. Sproule said the biggest challenge he faces is dealing with a stubborn and difficult regime that is inflexible and confident in its position. While it’s extreme, he said, in the minds of the Taliban, their ideas are perfectly logical.

“And they will pursue it, to the extent that sometimes the international criticisms and the opposition they wear, if I may say, like a badge of honour,” he said. “That’s quite difficult. But I do perceive that, above all, the Taliban want to be accepted into the international community. It’s the final step for them in their progress towards achieving power.”

But more importantly, he added, the Taliban want to be accepted into the international economic system: They want sanctions lifted and they want financing. On the diplomatic side, he said, they want a seat at the United Nations and in other international forums, which would signify their acceptance into the international community.

But they want it on their own terms, he added, and will pursue it by trying to ingratiate themselves with governments they think could be sympathetic because they aren’t interested in the same issues as most of the international community.

At the same time, Western countries can use the Taliban’s ambitions as leverage to try to pressure the militant group to improve its positions on human rights.

“They understand those levers that we have, but they would like those levers to be lifted and that pressure be lifted by doing the least amount possible. Whereas we’re insisting we’re not going to take half measures, we’re not going to sacrifice women’s rights or the right to freedom of expression, or rule of law, for the sake of coming to an understanding with the Taliban.”

In September, Canada, Germany, Australia and the Netherlands launched a legal process to hold the Taliban accountable for discrimination against women in a case that could land before the International Court of Justice.

Mr. Sproule said the countries have notified the Taliban they want to discuss this issue, which is the first step in the process. But, so far, they have not received a response. There are several steps that follow, but ultimately if the issue can’t be resolved, the matter would go to court.

Mr. Sproule said that he still has hope for Afghanistan’s future despite how everything has unfolded.

He recently toured several Canadian cities where he met members of the Afghan-Canadian community, he said, many who arrived after August, 2021.

The people he met, he said, are part of a generation who were exposed to opportunities in education and employment.

“These are the folks that are ready to take over when they get a chance and come back and continue to help Afghanistan,” he said.

So, while it’s disappointing what has happened with the Taliban and their outrageous policies, he said, “they can’t stifle the Afghan people, both inside and those who have left, who know what it’s like to live in a free environment,” he said. Those individuals know what it’s like to have elections, go to school and succeed economically, and for women to have access to public spaces and so on.

“These are things that won’t die because the Taliban impose their egregious measures against them. That’s the problem they face: They do not enjoy legitimacy among the Afghan people. And that is going to pose a problem if they want to continue to wield power.”

There is great unhappiness within the country, Mr. Sproule added, saying he believes there will be pressure on the Taliban to try to win the support of the Afghan people.

“What we did over the course of 20 years in Afghanistan creates the atmosphere and the wherewithal for the Taliban not to succeed. Afghans know something else now and they want to have a chance to have that back, and all the opportunities and the freedoms that they once enjoyed,” he said. “If I were the Taliban, I’d be worried they have created the start of their own demise, in my view.”