Disinfo: Western press unfairly denigrates Taliban

Summary

Squeezing out the Americans and coalition troops is only half the battle for the Taliban. The main war is ahead - the information war. Western press attacks Talibs by claiming that they hang, kill, and chop off people's hands. The people say the opposite, but who in the world hears it? It's all a lie. West only speaks, but there is no confirmation.

Disproof

Since taking power on 15 August 2021, the Taliban have sought to portray themselves as more tolerant than their global reputation suggests, but incidents of brutality and repression are still being reported in parts of Afghanistan.

Taliban fighters massacred nine ethnic Hazara men after taking control of the Ghazni Province in southeastern Afghanistan, Amnesty International (AI) reported. On-the-ground researchers spoke to eyewitnesses who gave harrowing accounts of the killings, which took place between 4-6 July in the village of Mundarakht in the Malistan District. At that, the Taliban have cut mobile phone service in many of the areas they have recently captured, controlling which photographs and videos are then shared from these regions, says AI.

Afghan families flee to Pakistan over forced marriage fears. Meanwhile, the Taliban has excluded girls from Afghan secondary schools, with only boys and male teachers allowed back into classrooms. The Taliban said it is working on a plan to allow girls to return to schools, but has not said when that could happen or what conditions may be imposed.

More than 220 female Afghan judges are in hiding due to fear of retribution under Taliban rule. Six former female judges spoke to the BBC from secret locations across Afghanistan.

Players from the Afghanistan women's volleyball team are hiding from the Taliban and one of the squad was killed for not following Sharia law, BBC reported in September 2021. Taliban denies the killing of Mahjabin Hakimi, an Afghan female volleyball player, but it destroyed the papers of the ongoing investigation.

A group of Afghan women urged the United Nations to block the Taliban from gaining a seat at the international body, calling for better representation for their country during a visit to the organisation's New York headquarters. "It's very simple," former Afghan politician and peace negotiator Fawzia Koofi told reporters. "The UN needs to give that seat to somebody who respects the rights of everyone in Afghanistan."

See more disinformation cases targeting the situation in Afghanistan.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 266
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 24/10/2021
  • Article language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Afghanistan
  • Keywords: Islamic extremism, Mainstream media
see more

Disinfo: The civil war in Ukraine started because of NATO

The civil war in Ukraine started precisely because of NATO. [...] The Anglo-Saxons have staged a coup d'état in Ukraine, put their puppets in power and turned Ukraine itself into an "anti-Russia" project that poses a real threat on its borders. [...] When I hear from our puppet government that Ukraine is NATO's eastern front, I realise that these puppets are not serving Ukraine, but NATO's interests.

Disproof

Two interconnected recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives are used in this piece. One about the war in Ukraine, claiming that Russia is not part of the conflict in Donbas, and that NATO is responsible for it, i.e. that Russia has nothing to do with the war in eastern Ukraine and presenting the conflict as a “civil war”, started by NATO. The other is about an alleged anti-constitutional coup in Ukraine in 2014; this is a longstanding pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Ukraine's Euromaidan protests.

The spontaneous onset of the Euromaidan protests was a reaction from several segments of the Ukrainian population to former President Yanukovych’s sudden departure from the promised Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013, after pressure from Russia. See the full debunk: The Western-backed coup in Ukraine has torn the country asunder.

Disinfo: The West tries to destroy the economy of Belarus, seizes any opportunity to pressure Belarusians

European and American politicians do not consider it possible to abandon sanctions while striving to destroy the economy of Belarus.

The 4th package and sectoral sanctions introduced in June by the EU and the 5th list of restrictions being prepared in Brussels today confirm the thesis that the sanctions are no longer about protecting the rights and freedoms of Belarusians. The West seizes any opportunity in order to annoy Belarusian authorities.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the belligerent West, particularly the EU, trying to destabilise and destroy Belarus.

The EU did not recognise the falsified results of the Belarusian Presidential election on 9 August 2020, nor the new mandate claimed by Alyaksandr Lukashenka. Since October 2020, the EU has progressively imposed restrictive measures against Belarus. The measures were adopted in response to the fraudulent nature of the presidential elections in Belarus, and the intimidation and violent repression of peaceful protesters, opposition members and journalists.

Disinfo: Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is meeting his masters

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is visiting Washington and he will meet US President Joe Biden in the White House. This is not a surprise as the Americans were behind Bartholomew's decision to grant autocephaly to the schismatic Church of Ukraine in order to split Ukraine from Russia.

Disproof

Pro-Kremlin disinformation outlets frequently attack the establishment of an autocephalous Ukrainian church.

The Constantinople Patriarchy, not the US, decided to grant the autocephaly to the Ukrainian church. The final decision was made in January 2019, when all members of the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate signed off the Tomos of autocephaly. The signing of the Tomos happened after years of deliberations as well as careful preparations and considerations by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the Holy Synod.