Crime & Justice

UN denounces mass arrest of women in Afghanistan for violating dress code

Kabul, Jan 11, 2024 (EFE).- The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Thursday denounced a campaign of mass arrests against Afghan women by the Taliban government for allegedly violating the strict dress code imposed on them.

UNAMA “is deeply concerned over recent arbitrary arrests and detentions of women and girls by Afghanistan’s de facto authorities because of alleged non-compliance with the Islamic dress code,” the UN mission said in a statement.

The international agency reported documenting a large number of detention of women and girls in Kabul (east) and Daykundi (center) provinces, by the authorities under the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice and the police, but did not specify the exact number of detainees.

It also reported that some of the women claimed to have been tortured or held incommunicado during their arrest.

The statement further noted that the campaign was focusing especially on Afghan women belonging to religious or ethnic minority communities in Afghanistan.

To secure release, UNAMA said that a male guardian was required to sign a letter guaranteeing future compliance to the strict dress code by the woman in question or else face punishment.

“UNAMA is also looking into allegations that payments have been demanded in exchange for release,” said the statement, adding that this repression might push women into greater isolation than they already suffer from the restrictions placed on them by the interim Taliban government.

Despite promises of change from their previous regime (1996-2001), the Taliban regime has imposed increasing restrictions on Afghan women, almost completely removing them from public life, ever since they seized power in 2021.

Among these restrictions are a ban on secondary and university education, or to work in most public spaces with some exceptions, in addition to a strict dress code that requires them to go out on the street with their faces covered.

In this regard, the UN mission said it has discussed these issues, as well as the recent wave of arrests, with the Taliban government and called for the immediate release of the detainees. EFE

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