Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities said Monday that a new law to “promote virtue and prevent vice” among the population, which has raised international concerns, particularly because of new restrictions on women, would be implemented “gently.”
The new 35-article legislation, promulgated on Wednesday, potentially controls every aspect of Afghans’ social and private lives, in an ultra-rigorous interpretation of sharia (Islamic law).
“I must make it clear that force and oppression will not be used when implementing these rules,” deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said in a voice message shared with AFP.
These rules “will be applied with care, appealing to people’s understanding, and guiding them,” he assured.
The law controls every aspect of Afghan life, from dress to social interactions, including the style and length of men’s beards, bans on homosexuality, animal fighting, music in public places, and holidays other than those in the Muslim religious calendar.
Women must be fully covered and not raise their voices in public, according to a section of the law announced by the Justice Ministry.
The UN, human rights groups and Afghans have expressed concern about the new law, some of whose provisions have already been in force informally since the Taliban seized power in August 2021.
The European Union said on Monday that it was “appalled” by the decree, which deals “a new blow” to the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.
It creates “another obstacle to the normalisation of relations” between Afghanistan and the EU, note the 27. Recognition of the Taliban regime by the Europeans can only be achieved if Kabul “fully respects [ses] international obligations and to the people of Afghanistan,” the EU warns.
The law provides for graduated sanctions for non-compliance – ranging from verbal warnings to threats, fines and detentions of varying lengths – imposed by the morality police under the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (PVPV).
The Taliban government has consistently rejected international criticism, including condemnation of restrictions on women, which the UN has called “gender apartheid.”
The law illustrates “a disturbing vision of the future of Afghanistan, where morality inspectors have discretionary powers to threaten and arrest anyone based on broad and sometimes vague lists of offences,” Roza Otunbayeva, head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said on Sunday.