UN Human Rights Chief Condemns Taliban Laws that Strip Women of Identity
In Afghanistan last week, the Taliban enacted new laws that prohibit women from showing their faces or speaking in public.
The United Nations human rights chief, Volker Türk, has called for the repeal of these laws, stating that they diminish women’s presence in Afghanistan to mere “faceless, voiceless shadows.”
These laws, intended by the Taliban to discourage immoral behavior and promote virtue, essentially silence women’s voices and faces in public spaces.
Approved by Afghanistan’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, the laws came into effect on August 22.
During a press briefing, Türk denounced the laws as policies that erase women’s visibility in public, depriving them of autonomy and effectively reducing them to faceless shadows without a voice.
The UN spokesperson, in a statement on the organization’s website, criticized the legislation for infringing on women’s fundamental human rights, including freedom of movement, expression, and the right to live without discrimination.
The laws mandate that women cover themselves from head to toe, travel only with a male companion, and forbid their voices from being heard in public spaces.
They also impose limitations on religious practices and grant extensive powers to state agents to detain individuals, impose punishments, or bring them to court.
Following the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and the subsequent Taliban takeover of Kabul, a ministry for the “propagation of virtue and prevention of vice” was established, leading to the implementation of these laws.
The media in Afghanistan is now prohibited from publishing any images of people, regardless of their gender.
The UN has condemned these laws as a blatant violation of Afghanistan’s international human rights obligations.
A convoy of Taliban security personnel is seen moving along the streets as they celebrate the third anniversary of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, in Herat on August 14, 2024. Mustafa Noori/Middle East Images via AFP
In response to criticism of the new laws, a Taliban spokesperson emphasized the importance of understanding and respecting Islamic values, stating that rejecting these laws without such understanding is an act of arrogance.
This report includes contributions from Reuters.
