Afghanistan’s Taliban orders women to be covered from head to toe

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on May 7 ordered all Afghan women to dress head-to-toe in public – a sharp, harsh pivot that confirms the worst fears of rights activists and the already distrustful international community. was bound to complicate the Taliban’s behavior further. ,

the decree says Women leave the house only when necessary And that male relatives would face punishment for violating the women’s dress code – starting with a subpoena to a court hearing and jail time.

It was the latest in a series of repressive orders issued by the Taliban leadership, not all of which have been implemented. For example, last month the Taliban forbade women from traveling alone, but after a day of protests, it was quietly ignored.

The UN aid mission in Afghanistan said it was deeply concerned about what would be considered and implemented as a formal directive, adding that it would seek clarification from the Taliban about the decision.

“This decision contradicts several assurances regarding the respect and protection of the human rights of all Afghans, including women and girls, that were provided to the international community by Taliban representatives during discussions and negotiations over the past decade.” Statement.

The decree, which calls on women to show only their eyes and recommends that they wear a head-to-toe burqa, imposed similar restrictions on women during the Taliban’s previous regime between 1996 and 2001. “We want our sisters to live with dignity and security. Khalid Hanafi, the Taliban’s deputy and acting minister of the Ministry of Virtue, said.

the Taliban first class 6. decided against reopening schools for girls above, reneging on an earlier promise and opting to appease its hardline base at the cost of further alienating the international community. But the decree does not have widespread support among the leadership that is divided between pragmatists and fundamentalists.

That decision hampered efforts by the Taliban to seek recognition from potential international donors at a time when the country was mired in a worsening humanitarian crisis. “It is necessary for all dignified Afghan women to wear a hijab and the best hijab is Chadori (head to toe burqa) which is part of our tradition and is respectable,” Shir Mohamed, an official in the Ministry of Deputy and Virtue, said in a statement.

“Women who are not very old or young should cover their face except for the eyes,” he said. “Islamic principles and Islamic ideology are more important to us than anything else,” Mr. Hanafi said.

Heather Barr, senior Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch, urged the international community to build coordinated pressure on the Taliban. “(It) is too far too long for a serious and strategic response to the Taliban’s escalating assault on women’s rights,” she wrote on Twitter.

The Taliban was ousted in 2001 by a US-led coalition to harbor al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and returned to power after the US’ chaotic departure last year.

The White House National Security Council condemned Saturday’s decree from the Taliban and urged them to withdraw it immediately. It said in a statement, “We are discussing this with other countries and partners. The legitimacy and support the Taliban seeks from the international community depends entirely on their conduct, particularly with the actions declared.” His ability to back the commitments.”

Since taking power last August, the Taliban leadership has been at loggerheads as they struggle to transition from war to rule. It pits hard against the more practical of them.

A spokeswoman for Pangea, an Italian non-governmental organization that has assisted women in Afghanistan for years, said the new decree would be particularly difficult for them to swallow because they lived in relative freedom until the Taliban took over.

“Over the past 20 years, they have gained awareness of human rights and lost them in the span of a few months,” Silvia Radigolo said by telephone. “It’s dramatic that there is (now) a life that doesn’t exist,” she said.

What angers many Afghans is the knowledge that many of the younger generation of Taliban, such as Sirajuddin Haqqani, are educating their girls in Pakistan, while women and girls in Afghanistan have been targeted by their repressive orders since taking power.

Girls have been banned from school beyond grade 6 in most parts of the country since the Taliban’s withdrawal. Universities opened in much of the country earlier this year, but Taliban orders have been uncertain since taking power. While some provinces continued to provide education to all, most provinces closed educational institutions for girls and women.

“The religiously-run Taliban administration fears that enrolling girls from sixth grade onwards could alienate their rural base,” Hashmi said. Private schools and universities have operated uninterruptedly in the capital, Kabul.