RFE/RL – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, More Repressive Measures In Pipeline As Taliban Reverts To 'Old Practices' In Afghanistan, 26 December 2022
“After forcibly seizing power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban made a public effort to assuage concerns by the international community that it would return to its brutal rule of the 1990s. But the militant Islamist group has gradually reverted to its repressive policies of the past as the prospect of international recognition and assistance has diminished, experts said. In recent weeks, the Taliban has reintroduced corporal punishments, including public floggings. The militants have also intensified their assault on women’s rights, including recently banning women from attending university. Observers said there are likely more draconian edicts in the pipeline as the Taliban reestablishes a theocratic state governed by the militant group’s extreme and tribal interpretation of Islamic Shari’a law. “It is very likely that the Taliban will increasingly impose more repressive measures,” said Weeda Mehran, co-director of the Center for Advanced International Studies (CAIS) at the University of Exeter. “This trend has been established.””
Amnesty International, Afghanistan: Taliban’s cruel return to hardline practices with public floggings must be halted immediately, 24 November 2022
“On Sunday 14 November, the Taliban Supreme leader gave an obligatory order for full implementation of sharia law in Afghanistan. Since then, the Taliban have carried out several public floggings on women and men accusing them of adultery, theft, same-sex sexual conduct or kidnapping, in different provinces in Afghanistan. This interpretation of Islamic law includes public executions, public amputations and stoning – which were carried out during the Taliban’s first rule that ended in late 2001. As the Taliban captured power in August 2021, they promised a more moderate rule in the country including respect to women’s rights. Amnesty International has documented the Taliban’s continued escalation of human rights violations and abuses since they took control of Afghanistan in August 2021. This includes extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, torture, disappearances, repression of women and girls, and censorship on media and other restrictions of freedom of expression.”
BBC News, Afghanistan: Taliban leader orders Sharia law punishments, 14 November 2022
“Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada has ordered Afghan judges to impose punishments for certain crimes that may include public amputations and stoning.” “The exact crimes and punishments have not been defined by the Taliban, but one religious leader in Afghanistan told the BBC that under Sharia law, penalties could include amputations, public lashings and stoning.”
EUAA, Afghanistan – Targeting of Individuals, 16 September 2022
"In Kabul City, the demand for traditional clothing for men and women increased after the takeover and many women initially did not dare to go outside. In later reports from 2022, women had reportedly returned to the streets although they were fewer in numbers, and more of them dressed conservatively. Some men reportedly still trimmed their beards and wore Western-style clothes, although the Taliban advised men not to wear such attire. Men with such appearance were also fewer in numbers than before the takeover."
Human Rights Watch, Testimony to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, 24 August 2022
Religious freedom does not exist in Afghanistan. Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, Taliban authorities, citing an order from their leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, have stated that the laws of the previous government are no longer in effect and that only Sharia, or Islamic law, is applicable in Afghanistan. The Taliban’s interpretations of Sharia, however, and the new rules and policies they have announced since taking over, cannot be found in any other country with Islamic populations. Almost all of their rules severely restrict Afghans’ basic human rights, and in particular the rights of women and girls. Under the Taliban’s extremist interpretations of Sharia, Taliban officials have imposed a de facto ban on girls’ secondary education, mandated women’s bodies and faces be completely covered when they are outside their homes, and prohibit women from traveling or working without a male relative as a chaperone.
There is no other country in the world where women face such sweeping violations of their basic human rights. The Taliban have also banned various other activities by men and women, citing Sharia, including prohibiting unrelated men and women from appearing in public together or going to parks and restaurants.These restrictions also violate the rights of Afghans to live according to their own conceptions of their religious faiths. But there are further abuses. The Taliban are failing to protect Afghanistan’s religious minorities from violence, and are subjecting some groups to persecution.
The Taliban follow an ultraconservative Sunni interpretation of Islam. Yet approximately 10 to 15 percent of Afghans are Shia, and there are a significant number of Sufi, small numbers of Ahmadis, and some Hindus and Sikhs in urban areas. The Taliban have not stated that Shia or Sufi practices are forbidden. And the authorities have also promised protection to Hindus and Sikhs, although members of both communities have continued to leave Afghanistan, and only a little over 100 of either remain.
The Taliban does not consider Ahmadis to be Muslims and they have persecuted some of their leaders in the past as blasphemers. Most of Afghanistan’s miniscule population of non-Muslims also continue to live under threat of persecution, in particular Bahai, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, and Christians, who practice secretly or have gone into hiding. An unknown number of Afghans consider themselves agnostic or atheist or otherwise do not practice Islam or any other religion. Taliban authorities view anyone who has left Islam to have committed apostacy, a crime they believe should be punished by death.
Serious problems for Shia, Sufi, and non-Muslims in Afghanistan today come from the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP), the Islamic State’s (ISIS) affiliate in Afghanistan, an armed extremist group. The ISKP has repeatedly carried out suicide bombings and other armed attacks against Shia communities, in particular ethnic
Hazara. The Hazara, a predominantly Shia ethnic group, have faced discrimination and abuse by successive Afghan governments for over a century. Since the Taliban takeover, the ISKP has claimed responsibility for 13 attacks against members of the Hazara community and are implicated in at least three more. These attacks have killed at least 700 people.
We cannot overstate how horrendous these attacks have been. An ISKP suicide bombing on April 19 at a high school in Dashte-e Barchi in west Kabul—a predominantly Hazara and Shia area—killed and injured more than 20 students and education staff. (This neighborhood previously suffered several devastating attacks before the Taliban took power: a May 2021 attack by ISKP on a girls’ high school that killed almost 50 students, mostly girls, and injured over 100 more, and the May 2020 attack on the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)-supported maternity
wing of the Dasht-e Barchi hospital.) On April 21, the ISKP then carried out a suicide bombing of the Seh Dokan Mosque in Mazar-e Sharif, one of Afghanistan’s largest Shia mosques, killing 31 people and wounding 87 others. In addition to these attacks, on April 27 suspected ISKP members killed five Hazara men on their way to the Dare- Suf coal mine in Samangan province. The next day, a bomb explosion killed 9 people and wounded 13 others in a public vehicle carrying Hazara passengers in Mazar-e Sharif.
The Taliban have condemned ISKP attacks and provided some families of victims with minor financial payments. Authorities have also vowed to protect vulnerable groups from attacks in the future. But there are few signs authorities are taking active or significant steps to do so.This is the situation that Afghans are enduring today under Taliban rule. The entire population is being forced to live according to ultraconservative interpretations of one branch of a single religion. Over half of the population— women and girls—are subjected to sweeping and severe violations of their basic human rights. Afghan men and boys also suffer abuses under Taliban edicts. And the Taliban is doing little as an Islamic State offshoot hunts for opportunities to murder Afghanistan’s vulnerable religious minorities. Afghanistan is a nightmare for religious freedom -- and other basic human rights.
Taliban leaders need to recognize that their vision for Afghanistan’s future is built on oppression, and that to address the concerns of all Afghans, they need to take a rights-respecting approach to religion and other fundamental freedoms. This will mean engaging with the international community in a more cooperative manner and adopting international standards on human rights—for instance, by reversing policies violating the rights of women and girls to education, employment, and free movement and fully cooperating with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and UN Human Rights Council mechanisms. Greater Taliban respect for human rights can also contribute to better international cooperation in addressing the threat posed by ISKP, especially to religious minorities in Afghanistan. […]”
The Norwegian Country of Origin Information Centre Land info, Country info response Afghanistan: the situation for Afghan women after Taliban takeover, 22 June 2022
"According to sharia, the man is the breadwinner of the family, while the woman is responsible the daily operation of the home arena. Before the takeover it was not formal obstacles to women being able to work. Still had less than one of five women paid work (Desai & Li 2018, p. 34). After the takeover, the economy has stopped and many have lost their jobs. Women are particularly hard hit. With the exception of those who have work that can not performed by men, government-employed women were told not to show up for work. In 2019 36 percent of the country's teachers were women. The suspension of schooling for girls over 12 years has meant that many female teachers are out of work (Kumar & Noori 2022).
In order for women to be able to return to work, it is an absolute requirement gender segregation in the workplace (Human Rights Watch 2022). It have to be separate entrances, living rooms and dining rooms (Pakistani Analyst, 2022). Et hospitals in Kabul report that they have been asked to introduce total segregation of boats employees and patients (Kumar & Noori 2022).
Limited freedom of movement and low occupational participation are two sides of the same coin. Working women must get to and from work. The Taliban has instructed locals taxi drivers about not giving women access unless she wears the burka or has a male companion (mahram) (Ahad & Kumar 2022)."
Tolo News, Jirga in Kabul From Tribal Areas for Talks With TTP: Report, 1 June 2022
“A grand Jirga of 50 people arrived in Kabul on Wednesday morning to attend the ongoing negotiations between the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the government of Pakistan, a Pakistan news agency reported. According to the report, the Prime Minister Mullah Hassan Akhund also met with the two sides. “The tribal elder of Pakistan and other important figures are in Kabul. The Jirga will assist in talks going on between the Pakistan government institutions and TTP,” said Tahir Khan, a Pakistani government official. The talks are said to be focusing on the extension of a ceasefire, the implementation of Shariah law, release of TTP prisoners and the return of the tribal areas to their previous state. “Pakistan had good relations with the Afghan Taliban before and now as well. The Pakistani Taliban has relations with the Afghan Taliban,” said Shir Hassan Hassan, a political analyst. “Now, there is this drama of negotiations under the title of peace, they (Pakistan) want to show the world that the Afghan Taliban has relations with the Pakistani Taliban,” said Azizi Marij, a military analyst. The Islamic Emirate has yet to comment on this.”
OHCHR, Statement by Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, concluding his visit to Kabul and Balkh and Kandahar provinces carried out from 15 to 26 May 2022 (reduction in armed fighting and civilian casualties since August 2021; deterioration of the human rights situation; humanitarian and economic crisis), 26 May 2022
“He acknowledges the de facto authorities’ assurances that they will respect the international human rights treaties ratified by Afghanistan, albeit as far as consistent with Sharia law. […] The authorities acknowledged that, from their perspective, the vast majority of international human rights norms are compatible with their understanding of Sharia. While there are some contentious issues where further dialogue is needed, they are urged to fully implement the human rights standards which Afghanistan has freely accepted, including respecting the rights of girls and women to education, employment, and participation in public life.”
Khaama Press (Afghan News Agency), Girls’ Schools not Aligned with Sharia Law: IEA Reasoned behind Schools Closure, 20 April 2022
“Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan disclosed the core reason behind girls’ schools’ closure adding that the secondary schools’ girls were not aligned with the Sharia law. Deputy chief of the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) of the IEA Moulayee Rahmatullah Najib said that girls’ schools in Afghanistan have problems with Sharia law, the curriculum is in opposition to Sharia law and jurisprudence, and that the way Afghan girls would go to schools was in opposition with Sharia and Afghan culture/tradition.”
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Gandhara, Taliban Resurrects Gender Segregation In Public Offices, Transport In Afghanistan, 16th March 2022
“The Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice earlier this month sent a letter to the Health Ministry ordering it to segregate male and female employees. “The offices for men and women should be separate,” said the letter, a copy of which was obtained by RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi.” The ministry, which is the enforcer of the Taliban’s radical interpretation of Islamic law, also warned that health care should be denied to female patients who do not observe the Islamic hijab. Several employees of the Health Ministry, who talked to Radio Azadi on condition of anonymity, confirmed the authenticity of the letter. The Taliban did not respond to messages from Radio Azadi seeking comment. The Taliban initially ordered women not to return to work. But it later called female health workers back to clinics and hospitals, although many were too scared to resume their work. Rights groups say gender segregation has created barriers to women and girls accessing health care. At many facilities, patients are only treated by a health professional of the same sex.”
US DOS, 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Afghanistan, 12 April 2022
“On November 23, the Taliban’s so-called prime minister Akhund instructed the Taliban to respect and protect the rights of detained persons under sharia, including by limiting the duration of detention. Still, UNAMA continued to receive reports of detainees not being brought before courts or dispute resolutions following this announcement. […] In areas they controlled throughout the year, the Taliban enforced a judicial system devoid of due process and based on a strict interpretation of sharia. Punishments included execution and mutilation. […] According to HRW, the Taliban established its own courts in areas under its control prior to August 15 that relied on religious scholars to adjudicate cases or at times referred cases to traditional dispute resolution mechanisms. Taliban courts prior to August 15 included district-level courts, provincial-level courts, and a tamiz, or appeals court, located in a neighboring country. According to HRW, the Taliban “justice system” was focused on punishment, and convictions often resulted from forced confessions in which the accused was abused or tortured. At times the Taliban imposed corporal punishment for serious offenses, or hudud crimes, under an interpretation of sharia.”
Gandhara, Regional Taliban Officials Ban Beard Trimming, Impose Turbans For Male Employees, 17 January 2022
“Taliban officials in Afghanistan's southern Uruzgan Province have ordered male employees to stop trimming their beards and wear a turban at work. [...] Mulawi Taib, a senior Taliban official in Uruzgan, told a gathering on January 16 that the hard-line Islamist group wanted people to obey Islamic Shari'a law.
"All employees...should understand that the policy of the Islamic Emirate [of Afghanistan] is based on Shari'a law. All employees are forbidden to shorten their beards and must come to work wearing turbans," Mulawi Taib said. In November, the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice issued a set of "religious guidelines" that imposed new restrictions on life under the Taliban.Uruzgan is one of the provinces where the group has imposed strict rules after returning to power.
According to reports, Taliban officials have appointed people at mosques to monitor the observance of prayers and religious orders. An attendance book was introduced in mosques, resulting in punishments for those who do not attend prayers. Such punishments are meted out mainly by employees appointed by the ministry, reports said.The Ministry of Vice and Virtue, which replaced the Western-backed government's Women's Affairs Ministry and took over its building after the militant group seized Kabul, was notorious for its abuses, particularly against women and girls, during the previous Taliban rule, from 1996 to 2001.”
Gandhara, Afghans Fear for Their Rights As Taliban Resurrects Religious Policing, 6 January 2022
When the Taliban seized power in August, the militant group vowed it would not resurrect the violent religious policing it enforced during its first stint in power. The hard-liners claimed they would limit themselves to preaching Islamic values of modesty and dignity. But nearly five months after regaining power, the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has reclaimed its role as the enforcer of the group’s radical interpretation of Islamic law. In a spate of decrees issued in recent weeks, the ministry has imposed restrictions on the behavior, movement, and appearances of residents, particularly those of women and girls.
AVA Press, The Taliban Issued New Instructions to the Residents of Logar, 12 December 2021
“The Taliban-led government has asked businessmen and shopkeepers in Pul-e-Alam, Logar, to offer their daily prayers in congregations and mosques. The Department of Enjoining the Good and Forbidding the Evil has also instructed the barbershops in the city of -e-Alam that taking money and shaving the beard is forbidden and should be avoided.” [...] “He pointed out that these are not their orders, but a religious matter and a divine command.” [...] Meanwhile, Taliban officials are assuring the people of the province that they will not be mistreated in any way. According to them, their duty is not to punish and mistreat people, but social awareness and the implementation of Islamic culture in society.
AVA Press, Taliban Forces Confiscated 800 Liters of Wine in Parwan, 6 December 2021
“Local Taliban officials in province say they have seized more than 800 liters of alcohol from the province. “The consignment was discovered and confiscated on Monday, December 6, in the seventh security district of , the provincial capital,” said Shamsulhaq Mobashir, governor spokesman of Taliban in Parwan.According to him, 10 sellers of have also been arrested by Taliban forces. “Meanwhile, an alcoholic beverage factory belonging to the 17th district of was seized by Taliban forces,” said Malang Jan, the commander of Parwan’s 7th security district. According to local Taliban officials in the province, the detainees have pleaded guilty and their cases are under investigation.”
AVA Press, Handle the Prisoners’ Cases Based on Sharia Law, Says Taliban Cabinet, 23 November 2021
“The Taliban interim government has ordered that the cases of all prisoners and detainees be handled and their fate must be determined in accordance with Islamic law. The cabinet of the Taliban on Tuesday, November 23, told all relevant sections not to detain prisoners for more than a certain period of time. The prisoners’ cases should be referred to the judiciary, the cabinet stressed. The cabinet meeting of the acting Taliban government said that the needs of the prisoners should be solved and their rights should be fully respected.”
“JURIST EXCLUSIVE – Law students and lawyers in Afghanistan are filing reports with JURIST on the situation there after the Taliban takeover. Here, a Staff Correspondent for JURIST in Kabul offers his observations on recent activities of the Taliban Ministry for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. [...] The Minister for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice said in a statement Tuesday that the Taliban are not against girls’ education, but men and women sitting together at a table is in contradiction to Islamic values. He further added that if the international community puts pressure on the Taliban for this reason, they will not leave their beliefs. [...]In provinces like Nangarhar, Takhar, Kapisa, Nuristan, and Kandahar the ministry’s officials have sent letters to barbers and public baths stating that no barber is allowed to shave anyone’s beard. If caught, the barber will be punished.
There is no official report if they have punished anyone but according to my understanding, they are using most of their time to educate and inform the public of these policies. The recent statements by the minister indicates one thing on the future education and higher education system in the country, and that is that there may be separate classes for girls and boys. Boys are girls were already separated in schools, but in the universities they attended the same class. This may be one reason behind the closure of public universities in the country.”
NPR via The Associated Press, The Taliban Order Barbers Not To Shave Beards In Afghan Province Of Helmand, 27 September 2021
“The Taliban on Monday banned barbershops in a southern Afghanistan province from shaving or trimming beards, claiming their edict is in line with Shariah, or Islamic, law.The order in Helmand province was issued by the provincial Taliban government's vice and virtue department to barbers in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital.[...] During their previous rule of Afghanistan, the Taliban adhered to a harsh interpretation of Islam. Since overrunning Kabul on Aug. 15 and again taking control of the country, the world has been watching to see whether they will re- create their strict governance of the late 1990s.
Some indication came on Saturday, when Taliban fighters killed four alleged kidnappers and later hung their bodies in the public squares of the western city of Herat.”
Financial Times, Afghanistan’s young Talibs: ‘No compromise with the enemy of our martyrs’, 18 September 2021
“There is a generation “more radical than the mainstream Taliban”, said Graeme Smith at the International Crisis Group. The new Taliban rulers are “going to have their hands full”.”
The Guardian, Taliban ban girls from secondary education in Afghanistan, 17 September 2021
“In a further sign that the recently announced Taliban government is tightening restrictions on women, the former ministry of women’s affairs building in Kabul has been handed over to the newly re-established ministry for the prevention of vice and promotion of virtue. This was the group’s feared enforcer in the 1990s, charged with beating women who violated bars on everything from going out in public without a male guardian to an obsessively prescriptive dress code that even forbade high heels.”
TOLO News, Afghan Education Ministry to Modify Curriculum, 13 September 2021
“The Ministry of Higher Education announced on Sunday that some subjects which contrast with Islam's Sharia will be dropped from the higher education curriculum. It comes as private universities and other higher education institutions reopened about a week ago in which classes were divided by gender. Acting Minister of Higher Education Shaikh Abdul Baqi Haqqani said on Sunday that mixed classes between girls and boys are not acceptable and some changes will be brought to the curriculum. He said changes will be based on Islamic Sharia. [...] The ministry added that it will launch a program to send students abroad for higher education in the future.
TOLO News, Private Universities Reopen, Students Separated by Gender, 7 September 2021
“The Ministry of Higher Education announced that private universities and higher education institutions that are following the new gender format have reopened. The acting Minister Abdul Baqi Haqani told TOLOnews that the male and female university students will be taught in separate classrooms, emphasizing that only female lecturers will be allowed to teach girls' classes.According to Haqani, joint classes are not acceptable at universities. He said: “Some of the universities are able to use separate buildings for girls, to teach the girls separately. But a number of universities do not have buildings, they can change the time of classes.”Meanwhile, officials from the private universities and institutions said they were willing to implement the new format required by the ministry. The officials are worried about the girls' low attendance at the universities. [...]The state universities are still closed in Afghanistan. Based on the ministry's announcements, government universities will open as soon as the separation of classes take place.”
The Guardian, Taliban name all-male Afghan cabinet including minister wanted by FBI, 7 September 2021
“The Taliban have also brought back the ministry for promotion of virtue and prevention of vice, a notorious enforcement body that was one of the most hated institutions when they last controlled Afghanistan. Its main function was to police the Taliban’s extreme interpretation of Islamic law.”
“In his first statement since the Taliban seized power last month, [supreme leader] Akhundzada said Afghanistan’s new rulers were committed to all international laws, treaties and commitments not in conflict with Islamic law. “In the future, all matters of governance and life in Afghanistan will be regulated by the laws of the holy Sharia,” he said.”