Afghanistan | The Taliban reimposes on women the wearing of the burqa in public

(Kabul) The Taliban have strongly tightened restrictions on the freedom of women in Afghanistan, by imposing on them on Saturday the public wearing of the burqa, a full mesh veil at eye level, a symbol of their oppression in this country.

In a decree issued to the press in Kabul, the supreme leader of the Taliban and Afghanistan, Hibatullah Akhundzada, ordered that women wear “a chadri [autre nom de la burqa]because it is traditional and respectful”.

“Women who are neither too young nor too old should veil their faces when facing a man who is not a member of their family”, to avoid provocation, the decree adds.

And if they don’t have important work to do outside, it is “better for them to stay at home”.

This decree also lists the punishments to which heads of families are exposed who do not enforce the wearing of the burqa.

Since the Taliban returned to power in mid-August, the dreaded Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice had issued several recommendations on how women should dress. But this is the first edict on the subject promulgated at the national level.

The Taliban had previously demanded that women wear at least a hijab, a scarf covering the head but revealing the face. But they strongly recommended wearing the burqa, which they had already imposed during their first stint in power between 1996 and 2001.

During this first regime, they had deprived women of almost all rights, in accordance with their ultra-rigorous interpretation of Sharia, Islamic law.

Agents from the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice whipped anyone who was caught without a burqa.

Broken promises

After their return to power, after 20 years of occupation by the United States and its allies, which had driven them out in 2001, the Taliban had promised to be more flexible this time.

But they soon reneged on their promises, steadily eroding rights again and sweeping away 20 years of women’s freedom.

Women are now largely barred from government jobs and prohibited from traveling abroad or long distance within the country unless accompanied by a male family member.

In March, the Taliban closed high schools and colleges for girls, just hours after their long-announced reopening. This unexpected volte-face, which was not justified except to say that the education of girls must be done in accordance with Sharia law, scandalized the international community.

The Taliban have also imposed the separation of women and men in public parks in Kabul, with visiting days imposed for each sex.

Over the past two decades, Afghan women had acquired new freedoms, returning to school or applying for jobs in all sectors of activity, even if the country remained socially conservative.

Women first tried to assert their rights by demonstrating in Kabul and in major cities after the return to power of the Taliban.

But they fiercely repressed the movement, arresting many activists and detaining some, sometimes for several weeks.

The burqa is a traditional Afghan item of clothing, widely worn in the more remote and conservative parts of the country. Even before the return to power of the Taliban, the vast majority of Afghan women were veiled, if only with a loose headscarf.