News Desk

According to a new UN report, activities like listening to music, smoking hookah, and wearing a “western-style” haircut are all legally punishable acts under the rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said the Taliban’s so-called morality police have restricted human rights, discriminately targeting women and girls, establishing an environment of fear and intimidation. The Ministry of the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice established by the Taliban in 2021, takes control of enforcing the Taliban’s strict interpretations of Islamic law.

These interpretations ban any activities deemed “un-islamic”, which includes displaying images of humans, and celebrating Valentine’s Day. Further reports said that the Taliban’s instructions are issued inconsistently and unpredictably, in different formats.

Following the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the radical Islamist group were persistent to distance itself from its previous period of rule in the 1990s, aiming for a more moderate approach.

However, many reports have shown that the old rules from that time have been reinstated, despite the Taliban’s promise to respect women’s rights in accordance to “Islamic law”.

Between August 2021, and March 2024, the UN recorded at least 1,033 cases of Taliban officers using violence to enforce their laws. According to the report, which was compiled using public announcements and documented reports, the MPVPV has a wide range of mandates and various enforcements methods ranging from verbal intimidation to public lashing. Their violations against women and girls were brutal that one senior UN official would classify it as “crimes against humanity”. The way the MPVPV enforces rules on the way women dress and access public places.