The statement implements a cabinet decision, a spokesman said. The declaration was signed by the acting minister, Sheikh Neda Mohammed Nadim. Since taking power in August 2021, Islamists have severely restricted women’s rights.
Girls and women are largely excluded from public life. Secondary schools from seventh grade onwards have also been closed to girls since the change of government. In the country, women were recently banned from visiting public parks and gyms.
US and UK condemn movement
Islamists have been back in power in Afghanistan since August 2021. Their government is not recognized internationally and is subject to sanctions. The humanitarian situation in the country has deteriorated sharply since then. Millions of people depend on support and food aid. There are also regular terrorist attacks in the country, often claimed by the Islamic State terrorist militia.
APA/AFP/Wakil Kohsar Since taking power, the Taliban has increasingly restricted women’s rights
The US and Britain condemned the move during a UN Security Council session on Afghanistan. “The Taliban cannot hope to become a legitimate member of the international community until it respects the rights of all Afghans, particularly the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls,” said US Representative Robert Wood.
Criticism of the UN special envoy
Just hours before the announcement, the new UN Special Envoy for Afghanistan, Rosa Otunbayeva, lamented the Taliban government’s hardening of course in a speech in New York. “We have seen a number of restrictions that are particularly harmful for women,” said Otunbayeva. “Your social space is now being restricted, as is your political space.”
Human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) called the ban a “disgraceful decision”. The Taliban have made it clear every day that they do not respect the basic rights of people in the country, especially women, HRW wrote on Twitter.
public flogging
Since the Taliban took power, draconian punishments have also been reintroduced. In early December, 18 men and nine women were punished with whipping, according to a court decision in the provincial capital of Charikar, in the center of the country, local TV channel Tolonews reported, quoting the country’s Supreme Court.
According to the court, the accused were accused of, among other things, theft, drug use or extramarital relations. In November, the Taliban had 14 people publicly flogged in the east of the country. The US called this a “terrible” sign that the Taliban was showing the world that it was reverting to the policies of the past.
First execution since taking power
During the first Taliban rule, from 1996 to 2001, flogging, amputation and stoning were carried out in public. In early December, for the first time since the Islamists returned to power, it was confirmed that a man had been publicly executed.
The Taliban advocated the reintroduction of these draconian punishments in Afghanistan. Criticism of Sharia, Islamic law, is an “insult to Islam”. The Taliban warned against interfering in internal affairs.