UN Expresses Alarm Over Afghanistan's New Morality Law

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan has voiced grave concerns about the new morality law enforced by the Taliban, which imposes severe restrictions on personal conduct. This law, criticized for its arbitrary enforcement, is viewed as a troubling vision for Afghanistan's future, especially for Afghan women and girls.

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan has raised alarms about the newly ratified morality law imposed by the country's de facto Taliban authorities, which places stringent restrictions on personal conduct. The law, consisting of 35 articles, has been criticized for its broad and severe enforcement mechanisms.

In its Sunday statement, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expressed its concerns. 'UNAMA is concerned by the promulgation by Afghanistan's de facto authorities of a morality law which imposes wide-ranging and far-reaching restrictions on personal conduct and provides morality police with broad powers of enforcement,' said the mission. Roza Otunbayeva, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of UNAMA, described the law as 'a distressing vision for Afghanistan's future.'

Otunbayeva further emphasized the law's particularly harsh impact on Afghan women and girls. 'It extends the already intolerable restrictions on the rights of Afghan women and girls, with even the sound of a female voice outside the home apparently deemed a moral violation,' she noted. The Ministry for the 'Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice', established in 2021, announced the legislation on Wednesday, with ministry spokesman Maulvi Abdul Ghafar Farooq asserting the laws would aid in promoting virtue and eliminating vice.

Article 13 of the new law specifically targets women, mandating that they cover their entire bodies, including their faces, in public. Singing, reciting, or reading aloud is also prohibited for women. Additionally, women are barred from looking at men who are not their relatives. Violation of these rules can result in warnings, property confiscation, or detention.

(With inputs from agencies.)