From Reuters:
“Taliban codify morality laws requiring Afghan women to cover faces, men
to grow beards”
Afghanistan's
Taliban formally codified a long set of rules governing morality this week,
ranging from requiring women to cover their faces and men to grow beards to
banning car drivers from playing music, the Justice Ministry said. The rules,
promoted as in line with Islamic sharia law and to be enforced by the morality
ministry, were based on a decree by the Taliban's supreme spiritual leader in
2022 and were now officially published as law, a Justice Ministry spokesman
said. The morality ministry, formally called the Ministry for the Prevention of
Vice and Propagation of Virtue, has already been enforcing similar morality
requirements and says it has detained thousands of people for violations. It
was not immediately clear whether publication of the rules would lead to
stronger enforcement.
The
Taliban's restrictions on women and freedom of expression have drawn sharp
criticism from rights groups and many foreign governments since the former
insurgents resumed control of Afghanistan in 2021. "Day by day, they are
trying to erase women from society," said a 37-year-old housewife in
Kabul. "The silence of the international community regarding the actions
of the Taliban is encouraging them to create new laws and restrictions every
day," added the woman, identified just by her first name, Halema.
Western
capitals, led by Washington, have said the path to formal recognition of the
Taliban is largely stalled until they reverse course on women's rights and open
high schools to girls. The Taliban say they respect women's rights in
accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law and local customs and that
they are internal matters that should be addressed locally.
The
35-article morality law was officially enacted and published on Wednesday after
being ratified by Supreme Spiritual Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, said Justice
Ministry spokesperson Barakatullah Rasoli. "According to this law, the
Ministry (for Prevention of Vice and Propagation of Virtue) is obligated to
promote good and forbid evil in accordance with Islamic Sharia," the
Justice Ministry said in a statement. The requirements include women to wear
attire that fully covers their bodies and faces and bars men from shaving their
beards as well as from skipping prayer and religious fasts. Penalties for
violations included "advice, warnings of divine punishment, verbal
threats, confiscation of property, detention for one hour to three days in
public jails, and any other punishment deemed appropriate," the Justice
Ministry added.
If
such measures failed to correct an individual's behaviour they would be
referred to court for further action, it said. "A lot of these rules were
in place already but less formally and now they are being formalised I think
this is a sign of what we've been seeing over the last three years which is a
steady and gradual escalation of the crackdown," said Heather Barr,
Associate Director of Human Rights Watch's Women's Rights Division. The laws
also instruct drivers of vehicles not to transport women without a male
guardian. They require media to abide by sharia law and ban the publication of
images containing living beings.
Morality
ministry officials have been monitoring Afghans throughout the country for
alleged offences for the past three years. The ministry said this week that in
the past year it had detained over 13,000 people, though it did not break down
the alleged offences or gender of the detainees. It said around half of the
detentions were for 24 hours. The Taliban suspended Afghanistan's previous
constitution when they took over in 2021 as foreign forces withdrew, and said
they would rule the country according to sharia law. This week's morality laws
were the seventh set of codified laws, according to the Justice Ministry, with
others relating to property, financial services and the prevention of begging.
^
The Taliban have been running Afghanistan for the past 3 years and in that time
they have beaten, tortured and murdered Women for not covering up, for working
or for wanting equal rights and have beaten, tortured and murdered Men for not
praying and for not having a beard.
3
years later and the US and her Allies still have not kept their promise of
saving thousands of Afghans who worked for us as Interpreters, etc. and who now
are being hunted down and murdered by the Taliban. ^
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