Cutting your hair in the European style, listening to music other than religious music, smoking… So many trivial acts have become punishable crimes in the space of three years in Afghanistan, since the return of the Taliban regime in August 2021 after two decades of war with the United States. According to The report The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) report released Tuesday, July 9, said the crackdown by “morality police” is drastically reducing the human rights of Afghans, creating a “climate of fear and intimidation” across the country. With a disproportionate impact on women and girls.
The harsh rules are multiplying as the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (MPVPV), created by the Taliban in 2021, legislates strict interpretations of Islamic law by the Taliban that must be applied throughout society. For example, any “un-Islamic” activity is now prohibited: such as celebrating Valentine’s Day, or displaying images of humans or animals in public places, such as on advertisements. Many of these rules are in fact laws already in force during the last reign of the radical Islamist regime in the 1990s, re-enforced under this new regime, which had nevertheless shown its desire to distance itself from this past, presenting itself as more modern.
These rules, sometimes only stated verbally, are applied in an “arbitrary and disproportionate” or “unpredictable” manner, the UN points out. Between August 15, 2021 and March 31, 2024, the UN documented at least 1,033 cases where Taliban officers used violence to enforce their rules. “Various methods of enforcement were used, including verbal intimidation, arrests and detentions, public ill-treatment and floggings,” says the report, compiled using public announcements and documented reports of human rights violations.
Women, the first victims
The first victims of these harshly punished bans are, unsurprisingly, Afghan women, whose rights, access to public places and activities have been reduced to next to nothing. For example, businesses owned by women have been closed, as have beauty salons dedicated to them. They are now banned from appearing in films, as is access to parks, gyms and public baths. They must also be accompanied by a male guardian (a mahram) when traveling more than 78 kilometers from their home, the report details.
In a press release from June, The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennet, considered that “the Taliban’s institutionalization of their system of oppression of women and girls, and the harm they continue to aggravate, should shock the conscience of humanity.” Attempts “so serious and widespread that they appear to constitute a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population, which may amount to crimes against humanity,” they denounced at the time.
The country required to respect human rights
In a statement, the Taliban called the UN criticism “unfounded” and said the report’s authors were “trying to assess Afghanistan from a Western perspective, which is incorrect.” “Afghanistan should be assessed as a Muslim society, where the vast majority of the population are Muslims who have made significant sacrifices for the establishment of Sharia law,” the statement continued. But the country is legally bound to respect human rights, the UN said.
The new report from the U.N. mission comes a week after a Taliban delegation visited Qatar in late June for a U.N.-sponsored meeting to discuss the country’s economic challenges and humanitarian crises. The meeting, which excluded women, sparked an outcry from human rights groups. But U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo called the discussions “frank” and “useful.” “The concerns and perspectives of Afghan women and civil society were at the forefront,” she said.