Taliban pass law silencing Afghan women in public and restricting their freedom

Taliban leaders in Afghanistan have imposed new restrictions on women, banning them from singing, reciting poetry or speaking loudly in public and requiring them to cover their faces and bodies at all times.

The restrictions are part of a new so-called “vice and virtue” decree that the Taliban's Justice Ministry issued on Wednesday with the approval of their reclusive supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, a ministry spokesman said in a video message.

The 35-article document is the first formal declaration of the laws of vice and virtue under the Taliban's strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law since they regained power in Afghanistan three years ago.

The decree severely restricts personal freedoms and religious practice and affects aspects of everyday life such as transport, music, shaving, celebrations, and the behaviour and appearance of women in public.

The rules for female members of Afghan society stated that a woman's voice was considered intimate and should not be heard while singing, reciting poetry or reading aloud in public. Women are also not allowed to look at men to whom they are not related by blood or marriage, and vice versa.

According to the new law, women must always cover their bodies and faces in public to avoid temptation and not tempt others. Their clothing must not be thin, short or tight, the report says.

The legal document empowers the Taliban's Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice to enforce these rules in the impoverished, war-torn South Asian country. It can issue warnings before detaining offenders for periods ranging from one hour to three days, and it can also confiscate property as punishment if it deems it appropriate.

The actions of the Ministry of Vice and Virtue are already under international scrutiny.

The United Nations reported last month that the ministry's increasing surveillance of public morality through its decrees and the methods used to enforce them were contributing to a climate of fear and intimidation among Afghans.

One of the articles of the law published on Wednesday prohibits the publication of images of living beings. Critics fear that this could further weaken the media landscape in Afghanistan and lead to the closure of television stations, digital media and print newspapers. The media is already suffering from censorship imposed by the Taliban.

Another article prohibits playing music on public transport, carrying female passengers without a male escort, and associating with men and women who are not related to each other. In addition, passengers and drivers are legally required to observe specific prayer times. Men are not allowed to shave their beards or trim them to less than a handful, although the law does not define what is considered an “Islamic” hairstyle.

Human rights activists fear that the latest restrictions represent a significant intensification of the Taliban's attempts to impose their version of Islamic law, particularly with regard to the oppression and exclusion of women from public life.

The fundamentalist Taliban have already banned Afghan girls as young as 12 from attending school and denied many women access to jobs in the public and private sectors, including in UN institutions. No country has officially recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, largely because of their harsh treatment of women.

On Wednesday, Richard Bennett, the United Nations-appointed special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, confirmed that the Taliban had banned him from entering the country. He called it a “step backwards” and called on the de facto Afghan government to lift the travel ban.

Bennett travelled to Kabul several times and in his subsequent reports stressed that the Taliban severely restrict Afghan women's access to education, employment and public life in general. He claimed that women and girls were “persecuted” under Taliban rule because of their gender, which he described as a crime against humanity.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid defended the travel ban on the UN envoy, claiming that Bennett was “spreading propaganda” by providing “misleading” information to the international community.