Taliban says “engagement” is only solution after new “morality law” sparks criticism

Kabul [Afghanistan], September 1 (ANI): Last month, the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan announced that a new law on the “Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice,” will be in force in the country.

Issued on August 21 by Afghanistan’s Ministry for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice, which the Taliban re-established when it retook power in August 2021, the new law orders women to cover their bodies and faces entirely and not speak or sing loud enough for non-family members to hear them.

After severe criticism by the United Nations, the Taliban ministry of Vice and Virtue has urged the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) not to “compare Afghanistan with Western theories and non-Islamic societies,” TOLO News reported.

Further, the ministry said that it will no longer cooperate with UNAMA due to what it describes as “misleading propaganda” by the organization.

Following this, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, stated at a press conference that the United Nations will continue to engage with all groups and countries involved in Afghanistan, including the interim government, according to the TOLO News report.

“In terms of the contacts with the de facto authorities, I mean, we will continue to engage with all stakeholders in Afghanistan, including the Taliban,” Dujarric told reporters on Saturday.

Hamidullah Fetrat, Deputy Spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate, also stated that engagement is the solution to challenges and that countries and organizations should engage with the Islamic Emirate.

The Deputy Spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate told TOLOnews: “Engagement is the only way that plays an important role in resolving challenges and expanding relations. Countries and international organizations should engage positively with the Islamic Emirate.”

The document of the law published in the official gazette imposes its interpretation of the Islamic Sharia law.

Women’s voices, it says, are now considered as ‘awrah’, or intimate parts, and may only be experienced in cases of necessity. The orders related to hijab are described, and it is said that it is essential to cover the whole body of the woman and it is necessary to cover the face due to the fear of temptation.

In addition, the law states, the ombudsmen are responsible to prevent the drivers from playing music, using drugs, transporting women without hijab, providing a place for women to sit and mingle with men who are not mahrams, and from being wise and mature.

“It is haram for unrelated men to look at the bodies or faces of unrelated women, and it is haram for unrelated women to look at unrelated men,” the law ratified by Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada states.

Punishment for these “crimes” will be carried out by the Taliban’s Muhtaseebs or morality police who have the authority to detain individuals for up to three days.

Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani has said the newly-adopted law “by the de facto authorities in Afghanistan cements policies that completely erase women’s presence in public-silencing their voices and depriving them of their individual autonomy.

The UN spokesperson addressing a press conference in the last week of August said the law effectively attempts to render women into “faceless, voiceless shadows.”

She said that UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has called for “this egregious law to be immediately repealed.”

“The long list of repressive provisions that this law imposes on women reinforces a number of existing restrictions that violate their fundamental human rights, including their freedom of movement, their freedom of expression, and their right to live free from discrimination.”

“The law includes the requirement to wear clothes that completely cover their bodies from head to toe, including their faces; a ban for transport providers on transporting women unless they are accompanied by a male relative; and the prohibition on women’s voices being heard in public,” Shamdasani said.

She said that “disempowering and rendering invisible and voiceless” half the population of Afghanistan will only worsen the human rights and humanitarian crisis in the country.

“Rather, this is a time to bring together all the people of Afghanistan, irrespective of their gender, religion, or ethnicity, to help resolve the many challenges the country faces,” the UN spokesperson said.

Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs of the UN, Rosemary di Carlo, said that the “morality law” recently promulgated by the de facto authorities further restricts human rights and freedoms, particularly of women.

She added that this is unconscionable, and if maintained, the law can only impede Afghanistan’s return to the international fold.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) stated that it is concerned by the promulgation of the “morality law.”

UNAMA has said that it is studying the newly ratified law and its implications for the Afghan people, as well as its potential impact on the United Nations and other vital humanitarian assistance for the country, and is seeking clarification from the de facto authorities on a number of articles and on plans for enforcement.

UNAMA reiterated that Afghanistan as a state remains party to seven key international human rights instruments, and as mandated by the UN Security Council, it continues to monitor, report, and engage on human rights and women’s rights issues, and has maintained direct discussions with the de facto authorities.

In a statement, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Rosa Otunbayeva, said that the “morality law” extends the already intolerable restrictions on the rights of Afghan women and girls, with even the sound of a female voice outside the home apparently deemed a moral violation.

Otunbayeva is expected to brief the Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan on September 18.