The Taliban have ordered airlines in Afghanistan to refuse to board women if they are not accompanied by a male relative, a new restriction on the freedoms of Afghan women undermined in seven months of governance.
Since their return to power on August 15, the Taliban have gradually swept away twenty years of freedom won by women, despite promises to be more flexible than during their first regime (1996-2001), when women were deprived almost all of their rights.
They quickly barred Afghan women from many government jobs and controlled the way they dressed. They also arrested and detained women activists — some for several weeks — who had protested for women’s rights.
On Sunday evening, two managers from Ariana Afghan Airlines and Kam Air told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that they had received a Taliban ban on issuing tickets to Afghan women if they are not accompanied by a man. of their family for their trip.
“No woman is allowed to fly on domestic or international flights without a male relative,” says a letter sent by a senior Ariana Afghan Airlines official to company staff, a copy of which AFP obtained.
Two travel agents have also confirmed to AFP that they have stopped issuing tickets to women who want to travel alone.
Some “who were traveling without a male relative were not allowed to board a Kam Air flight from Kabul to Islamabad on Friday,” a female passenger on the flight told AFP.
The new directive should not apply to foreigners, although local media reported the case of an Afghan woman with an American passport who was prevented from flying last week.
At the end of December, the Taliban fundamentalists had already prohibited Afghan women from making trips of more than 72 kilometers in the country if they were not accompanied by a male member of the family.
“Order of our God”
This new restriction comes a few days after the decision of the Taliban to close secondary schools for girls, just after their reopening which had however been announced for a long time.
Afghan associations for the defense of women’s rights have planned to demonstrate if the Taliban do not reopen these schools this week.
The repression of Afghan women and girls “is not a substitute for governance”, reacted on Twitter Rina Amiri, the United States special envoy to Afghanistan.
“Create a culture of hope rather than a culture of fear,” she said to the Taliban.
[La répression des femmes et des filles afghanes] is not a substitute for governance
Another restriction was announced on Sunday by the dreaded Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice: the separation of women and men in Kabul’s public parks, with visiting days imposed for each gender.
Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays are now reserved for men and Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays for women.
“It is not an order from the Islamic Emirate, but an order from our God that unrelated men and women do not meet in the same place,” Mohammad Yahya Aref told AFP. a ministry official.
Heather Barr, Human Rights Watch’s deputy director for women’s rights, called the restrictions “frightening”.
“Every day we see the noose tightening on women and girls,” she told AFP.
“They have abandoned – at least for now – any effort to reach an agreement with the international community”, of which no country has so far recognized the new regime, she added.
The Taliban also appear to have set their sights on local media, which flourished under previous US-backed regimes.
Every day we see the noose tightening on women and girls
Monday, in the province of Kandahar (South), the Taliban intelligence services raided four radio stations that broadcast music, and arrested six journalists.
On Sunday, the Islamists ordered the BBC’s Afghan television partners to stop broadcasting its programs.
“Since foreign television channels are broadcast from abroad, the Islamic Emirate has no access to control their content, especially with regard to the clothing of journalists,” Inamullah Samangani told AFP. , spokesman for the Taliban.
“Sometimes they also aired content that conflicted with our religious values, Afghan culture and national security interests,” he added.
“Another repressive measure against the Afghan people”, denounced on Twitter the United Nations assistance mission in Afghanistan, about the cessation of these programs.