At an international conference in London this week, seventy countries pledged to back Afghan president Hamid Karzai’s plan to reach out to some members of the Taliban. Despite reassurances that reconciliation would not betray hard-won social and political freedoms, much of the rhetoric from power players at the summit gave civil society observers the impression human rights –especially the rights of women– could soon be on the negotiating table.
Activists also expressed anger at the exclusion of women and civil society from preparations for the conference itself.