Taliban authorities in Afghanistan responded Monday to criticism over newly codified moral standards, saying rejecting the legislation without understanding Islamic law showed “arrogance.”
Women must cover themselves completely and not raise their voices in public, among other rules restricting women's movements and behavior, according to a 35-article law announced Wednesday by the Justice Ministry.
It imposes sweeping stipulations, including rules on men's dress and attendance at prayers, as well as bans on keeping photographs of living beings, homosexuality, animal fights, playing music in public and on non-Muslim holidays.
The United Nations, human rights groups and Afghans have expressed concern that the law will lead to greater enforcement of lifestyle and behavioural norms, many of which are already in place informally since Taliban authorities seized power in 2021 and implemented a strict interpretation of Islamic law, or sharia.
The law is “firmly rooted in Islamic teachings” that must be respected and understood, chief government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement late Monday.
“Rejecting these laws without such understanding is, in our view, an expression of arrogance,” he said, adding that for a Muslim to criticise the law “can even lead to the decline of his faith.”
'A hard blow'
The European Union on Monday declared itself “appalled” by the decree which “confirms and prolongs severe restrictions on the lives of Afghans.”
“This latest decision is yet another blow that undermines the rights of Afghan women and girls and which we cannot tolerate,” said a statement from EU foreign policy official Josep Borrell.
Borrell urged the Taliban to end such “systematic and systemic abuses against Afghan women and girls,” warning that they may amount to gender persecution, a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
The Taliban government has consistently rejected international criticism of its policies, including condemning restrictions on women that the UN has called “gender apartheid.”
The law provides for graduated punishments for non-compliance, from verbal warnings to threats, fines and detentions of varying lengths, enforced by the moral police under the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
Mujahid dismissed concerns about the law's implementation, saying: “No rights will be violated and no individual will be subjected to injustice.”
Earlier on Monday, deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said the law would be implemented “gently,” through advice and guidance.
The Taliban government recently said morality police would play an increasingly important role in enforcing religious law, according to a July UN report, which accused them of creating a “climate of fear.”
Roza Otunbayeva, head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, called the law “a worrying vision for the future of Afghanistan, where moral inspectors have discretionary powers to threaten and detain anyone based on broad and sometimes vague lists of violations.”
Statements by UNAMA and the EU warned that the law could damage prospects for engagement with the international community.
The Taliban government is not recognized by any state but has recently made diplomatic inroads, including attending U.N.-hosted talks on Afghanistan in Qatar.
Mujahid stressed that “the concerns raised by various parties will not deviate the Islamic Emirate from its commitment to uphold and enforce Islamic Sharia law.”
