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A6 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 7 december 2022

Taliban allow high school graduation exams for Afghan girls

By RAHIM FAIEZ moderate rule and wom-
Associated Press en’s and minority rights,
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghan they have restricted rights
girls will be allowed to take and freedoms and widely
their high school gradua- implemented their harsh in-
tion exams this week, an of- terpretation of Islamic law,
ficial and documents from or Sharia.
the Taliban government They have banned girls
indicated Tuesday — even from middle school and
though they have been high school, restricted
banned from classrooms women from most employ-
since the former insurgents ment, and ordered them to
took over the country last wear head-to-toe clothing
year. in public. Women are also
According to two docu- banned from parks, gyms,
ments from the Taliban and funfairs.
ministry of education, ob- Women have not been
tained by The Associated denied access from uni-
Press, the decision applies versities under the Taliban
to 31 out of Afghanistan’s and the implication of the
34 provinces where the latest development is that
winter school break starts in Afghan girls who obtain a
late December. Afghan girls attend a religious school, which remained open since the last year’s Taliban takeover, high school diploma after
Ehsanullah Kitab, head in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug 11, 2022. Wednesday’s exam would
of the Kabul education Associated Press be able to apply for univer-
department, said the ex- ment, signed by Habibul- there later. “How can we possibly take sities.
ams would take place on lah Agha, the education “This is ridiculous,” said an exam after a year and A Kabul high school princi-
Wednesday. He provided minister who took office in 18-year-old Najela from a half that the Taliban have pal said she was informed
no other details and it was September, said the tests Kabul, giving only her first kept school doors closed,” that twelfth grade girls will
not clear how many teen- would be held in 31 Afghan name for fear of repri- she added. have just one day to take
age girls would be able to provinces. The three ex- sals. She would now be in The Taliban overran Af- exams in 14 subjects, with
take the exam. cluded provinces Kanda- twelfth grade and eligible ghanistan in August 2021 as 10 questions from each

One of the documents, har, Helmand and Nimroz for the exam. “We spent U.S. and NATO forces were subject. The principal, who
from the Kabul education have a different timetable a whole year under ten- in the final weeks of their spoke on condition of an-
department, said the ex- for the school year and sion and stress and haven’t pullout from the country af- onymity for fear of repri-
ams would last from 10 a.m. high school graduation ex- read a single page of our ter 20 years of war. Despite sals, said most girl students
to 1 p.m. A second docu- ams typically take place textbooks.” initially promising a more lacked textbooks.q

Amnesty International Canada says it was hacked by Beijing

By ROB GILLIES “a threat group sponsored Nivyabandi encouraged tempts to disrupt or surveil designed to harvest cre-
Associated Press or tasked by the Chinese activists and journalists to our work. These will not in- dentials. It called that par-
TORONTO (AP) — The Ca- state” was likely behind update their cybersecurity timidate us and the security ticularly concerning given
nadian branch of Amnesty the attack because of the protocols in light of it. and privacy of our activists, the Chinese state’s “report-
International said Monday nature of the searches, the “As an organization ad- staff, donors, and stake- ed human rights abuses in
it was the target of a cy- level of sophistication and vocating for human rights holders remain our utmost relation to Uyghurs, Tibet-
berattack sponsored by the use of specific tools globally, we are very aware priority,” Nivyabandi said. ans and other ethnic and
China. that are distinctive of Chi- that we may be the tar- Amnesty is among organi- religious minority groups.”
The human rights organiza- na-sponsored actors. get of state-sponsored at- zations that support human Amnesty has raised alarms
tion said it first detected the rights activists and journal- about a system of intern-
breach Oct. 5 and hired ists targeted by state ac- ment camps in China that
forensic investigators and tors for surveillance. That swept up a million or more
cybersecurity experts to in- includes confirming cases Uyghurs and other ethnic
vestigate. of activists’ and journalists’ minorities, according to
Ketty Nivyabandi, Secre- cellphones being infect- estimates by experts. Chi-
tary General of Amnesty ed with Pegasus spyware, na, which describes the
International Canada, said which turns the devices camps as vocational train-
the searches in their sys- into real-time listening tools ing and education centers
tems were specifically and in addition to copying their to combat extremism, says
solely related to China and contents. they have been closed.
Hong Kong, as well as a In August, the cybersecurity The government has never
few prominent Chinese ac- firm Recorded Future listed publicly said how many
tivists. The hack left the or- Amnesty and the Interna- people passed through
ganization offline for nearly tional Federation for Hu- them.
three weeks. U.S. cyberse- man Rights among organi- China’s embassy in Ottawa
curity firm Secureworks said Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary General of Amnesty International zations that Chinese hack- did not immediately re-
there was no attempt to Canada, speaks during a news conference on Parliament Hill in ers were targeting through spond to a message seek-
monetize the access, and Ottawa, Ontario, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. password-stealing schemes ing comment.q
Associated Press