Human rights organizations on Monday condemned the “cruel” decision to bar Afghan women from Band-e-Amir Park in the tourist province of Bamyan, popular with families for its beautiful lakes.
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“Not content with depriving girls and women of education, jobs and freedom of movement, the Taliban also want to take away parks and sports and now even nature,” said Heather Barr, deputy director of women’s rights at Human Rights Watch.
“Step by step the walls are closing on women and every home is becoming a prison,” she said in a statement.
“It’s also about your ability to feel joy,” she told AFP, calling the decision “cruel” and “completely intentional.”
Minister for the Prevention of Vice and the Promotion of Virtue Mohammad Khalid Hanafi justified the ban on a visit to Bamyan province on Saturday by saying that wearing the hijab (clothes that cover the body and head) had not been respected during the last two years.
“We must take serious action today. We must prevent the hijab from being disrespected,” he said.
“Women and our sisters will no longer be able to go to Band-e-Amir until we set guidelines,” he added.
“This explanation of a woman not wearing a proper hijab doesn’t make any sense,” said Human Rights Watch.
Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban government has continuously restricted the rights of Afghan women with its strict interpretation of Islam.
Within two years, secondary schools and then universities closed their doors to women. Parks, sports halls and hammams are also prohibited.
Because Afghan women are barred from working for NGOs and barred from most public service positions, they are required to cover themselves fully even when leaving their homes.
“Can anyone explain why this restriction on women traveling to Band-e-Amir is necessary to comply with Sharia and Afghan culture?” asked X (formerly Twitter), the rapporteur for the UN special report on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett.
Since the announcement, women have been posting commemorative photos on social media from their visit to this national park in the center of the country.
“Band-e-Amir is about peace and beauty. “I hope that one day the Taliban will find these concepts in their empty hearts,” one of them told X.
The park consists of a network of lakes with turquoise and sapphire blue water. Many families have a habit of renting pedal boats and strolling along the shore or even enjoying the surrounding waterfalls and souvenir shops.
A few kilometers away is the Bamyan Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and famous for its alcoves carved into the cliff, where giant Buddhas no longer stand after being destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.
The province, which is predominantly inhabited by the Shia Hazara minority, is considered the least dangerous and one of the least conservative in Afghanistan.