UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on new repressive law in Afghanistan

“The newly-adopted law on “Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” by the de facto authorities in Afghanistan cements policies that completely erase women’s presence in public – silencing their voices, and depriving them of their individual autonomy, effectively attempting to render them into faceless, voiceless shadows,” she said.

“This is utterly intolerable. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk calls for this egregious law to be immediately repealed,” Shamdasani stated.

“The long list of repressive provisions that this law imposes on women reinforces a number of existing restrictions that violate their fundamental human rights, including their freedom of movement, their freedom of expression, and their right to live free from discrimination. The law includes the requirement to wear clothes that completely cover their bodies from head to toe, including their faces; a ban for transport providers on transporting women unless they are accompanied by a male relative; and the prohibition on women’s voices being heard in public,” Shamdasani said.

Other restrictions in the law, which are vaguely defined, affect other human rights, such as the right to freely practice one’s religion. The law also grants State agents broad, discretionary powers to detain people, impose punishments on them, or refer matters to courts

“The law further tightens the grip on the media sector, with a ban on publishing images of human beings, presumably also those of de facto officials,” the spokesperson said.

“We call on the de facto authorities to immediately repeal this legislation, which is in clear violation of Afghanistan’s obligations under international human rights law,” she said.

“Disempowering and rendering invisible and voiceless half the population of Afghanistan will only worsen the human rights and humanitarian crisis in the country. Rather, this is a time to bring together all the people of Afghanistan, irrespective of their gender, religion or ethnicity, to help resolve the many challenges the country faces,” Shamdasani said.

“When I was in Afghanistan, about two years ago, this should come as no surprise, we were sitting around the table with several women representatives, who were sharing with us the issues that their communities face and solutions. These women were full of solutions. They are in contact with people in the community at a very close level. They understand the issues that are facing the most vulnerable. They have solutions. They need to be given a seat at the table to help implement those solutions. These are partners who are being completely silenced and they're attempting to render them into shadows. Their voices are no longer permissible. Education is no longer permissible. you cannot even see their faces. This needs to stop, and we need to continue talking about it. We need to continue advocating for it and putting pressure on the authorities to listen,” she said.

ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact:

In Geneva

Ravina Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org or

Thameen Al-Kheetan - +41 76 223 77 62 / thameen.alkheetan@un.org

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