Taliban vice and virtue laws provide ‘distressing vision’ for Afghanistan, warns UN envoy

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ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban’s new vice and virtue laws that include a ban on women’s voices and bare faces in public provide a “distressing vision” for Afghanistan’s future, a top U.N. official warned Sunday.

Roza Otunbayeva, who heads the U.N. mission in the country, 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 deemed a moral violation.

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers last Wednesday issued the country’s first set of laws to prevent vice and promote virtue. They include a requirement for a woman to conceal her face, body and voice outside the home.

The laws empower the Vice and Virtue Ministry to be at the front line of regulating personal conduct and administering punishments like warnings or arrest if its enforcers allege that Afghans have broken the laws.

“After decades of war and in the midst of a terrible humanitarian crisis, the Afghan people deserve much better than being threatened or jailed if they happen to be late for prayers, glance at a member of the opposite sex who is not a family member, or possess a photo of a loved one,” Otunbayeva said.

The mission said it was studying the newly ratified law and its implications for Afghans, as well as its potential impact on the U.N. and other humanitarian assistance.

Taliban officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the U.N. criticism.

In remarks broadcast Sunday by state-controlled broadcaster RTA, Vice and Virtue Minister Mohammad Khaled Hanafi said nobody had the right to violate women’s rights based on inappropriate customs.

“We are committed to assure all rights of women based on Islamic law and anyone who has a complaint in this regard will be heard and resolved,” he added.

Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada said last year that Afghan women are provided with a “comfortable and prosperous” life, in spite of decrees barring them from many public spaces, education and most jobs.

The U.N. has previously said that official recognition of the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan is nearly impossible while restrictions on women and girls remain.

Although no country recognises the Taliban, many in the region have ties with them.

Last Wednesday, the United Arab Emirates accepted the credentials of the Taliban’s ambassador to the oil-rich Gulf Arab state.

A UAE official said the decision reaffirmed the government’s determination to contribute to building bridges to help Afghans. “This includes the provision of humanitarian assistance through development and reconstruction projects, and supporting efforts that work towards regional de-escalation and stability.”

Otunbayeva is scheduled to report to the U.N. Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan on Sept. 18, three years after the Taliban stopped girls’ education beyond sixth grade.

Acting Higher Education Minister Nada Mohammed Nadim said religious scholars were researching female education and it was their findings that would determine if schools and universities will reopen.

“Nobody should make himself a cleric or tell us if education is permitted for women,” he told a news conference in Kabul on Sunday. “We have proven that any decision won’t be against Islamic law or Afghan culture. This is a very sensitive issue so deciding in weeks or months is not possible. We can’t say exactly that, on this date, this will be solved.”

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