A senior UN official on Sunday raised concerns that new Taliban laws banning women from speaking and wearing uncovered faces in public places risk complicating Afghanistan’s future.
Last Wednesday, Taliban rulers in Afghanistan issued the country’s first set of laws aimed at preventing vice and promoting virtue, which include requiring women to conceal their faces, bodies and voices outside the home. The laws mean the Ministry of Vice and Virtue must regulate the behaviour of citizens and, where necessary, apply measures such as warnings or arrests.
Roza Otunbayeva, who heads the UN mission in the country, said the laws exacerbate already severe restrictions on the rights of women and girls, adding that the new laws show that sound from a woman outside the home is considered a moral violation.
After decades of war and in the midst of a terrible humanitarian crisis, the Afghan people deserve much better than being threatened or jailed if they happen to be late for prayers, glance at a member of the opposite sex who is not a family member, or possess a photo of a loved one, she stated.
The mission said it is studying the recently ratified law and its implications for Afghans, as well as its potential impact on the UN and other humanitarian assistance. However, Taliban spokesmen were not available for comment.
Despite, in a statement on Sunday, Mohammad Khaled Hanafi, deputy minister of virtue, said no one has the right to violate women’s rights based on inappropriate customs. He said the government pledged to ensure all women’s rights based on Islamic law.
The United Natiobs has previously said it is virtually impossible for the Taliban to gain official recognition as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan as long as restrictions on women and girls remain. While no country recognises the Taliban, many in the region have ties to them.
