Taliban reject UN concerns over laws banning women from speaking out and uncovering themselves in public
ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban on Monday rejected concerns and criticism raised by the United Nations over new laws on vice and virtue which prohibit Afghan women from revealing their faces and speaking in public places.
Roza OtunbayevaThe head of the U.N. mission in the country, UNAMA, said Sunday that the laws offered a “worrying vision” of Afghanistan’s future. She said the laws extend “the already intolerable restrictions “on the rights of women and girls, with “even the sound of a female voice” outside the home apparently considered a moral violation.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government’s chief spokesman, issued a statement warning against the “arrogance” of those he said might be unfamiliar with Islamic law, particularly non-Muslims who might express reservations or objections.
“We call for a deep understanding of these laws and a respectful recognition of Islamic values. Rejecting these laws without such understanding is, in our view, an expression of arrogance,” he said.
The Taliban leaders of Afghanistan The government on Wednesday enacted the country’s first set of laws aimed at discouraging vice and promoting virtue. The laws include requiring women to conceal their faces, bodies and voices outside their homes. They also ban images of living beings, such as photographs.
“After decades of war and in the midst of a terrible humanitarian crisis, the Afghan people deserve far better than being threatened or imprisoned for arriving late to prayer, for glancing at a member of the opposite sex who is not a family member, or for possessing a photograph of a loved one,” Otunbayeva said.
Responding to the UNAMA statement, Mujahid added: “We must stress that the concerns raised by various parties will not distract the Islamic Emirate from its commitment to respecting and implementing Islamic law.”
In a rare public criticism of Afghan leaders, the Japanese embassy in Kabul expressed deep concern over the continued restrictions on women and girls as outlined in the laws.
The embassy said on social media platform X on Monday that it would continue to urge authorities to “listen to the voices of Afghan women and girls for education, employment and freedom of movement” for the country’s future.
