INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on Sunday it is concerned by the promotion of a morality law by the
Islamic Emirate this week that had wide-ranging and far-reaching restrictions on personal conduct and one that provides morality police with
broad powers of enforcement.This week the Islamic Emirate announced the ratification of a &Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention
of Vice&, with 35 articles detailing significant restrictions on the Afghan population with arbitrary and potentially severe enforcement
mechanisms, UNAMA said in a statement.&It is a distressing vision for Afghanistan&s future, where moral inspectors have discretionary powers
to threaten and detain anyone based on broad and sometimes vague lists of infractions,& said Roza Otunbayeva, the Special Representative of
the Secretary-General and head of UNAMA.&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 said.The text has worrying impacts on religious
freedoms by ignoring the full diversity of Afghanistan&s religious communities, and places more restrictions that will impact the work of
journalists and media, UNAMA stated.&After decades of war and in the midst of a terrible humanitarian crisis, the Afghan people deserve much
better than being threatened or jailed if they happen to be late for prayers, glance at a member of the opposite sex who is not a family
member, or possess a photo of a loved one,& Otunbayeva said.&The international community has been seeking, in good faith, to constructively
engage with the de facto authorities
The world wants to see Afghanistan on the path of peace and prosperity, where all Afghans have a stake in their future, are citizens with
rights and not just subjects to be disciplined
Further restricting the rights of the Afghan people and holding them in constant fear will make achieving this goal even harder,& Otunbayeva
said.UNAMA stated it is studying the newly ratified law and its implications for the Afghan people, as well as its potential impact on
United Nations and other vital humanitarian assistance for the country.UNAMA is also seeking clarification from the Islamic Emirate on a
number of articles and on plans for enforcement.Based on its initial review, two articles in the law do constitute positive steps, namely
outlawing the mistreatment of orphans as well as &prohibiting the practice of Bacha Bazi, a pedophilic practice of using young boys for
personal entertainment and sexual abuse,& the statement read.UNAMA however said it reiterates that Afghanistan as a state remains party to
seven key international human rights instruments
&Security Council Resolution 2681 (2023) also called on the Taliban (IEA) to swiftly reverse the policies and practices that restrict the
enjoyment by women and girls of their human rights and fundamental freedoms,& the statement read.On Wednesday, the ministry of justice
announced that Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), had approved a law on the
propagation of virtue and prevention of vice.The law has four chapters and 35 articles, Barakatullah Rasouli, a spokesman for the Ministry
of Justice, said.He said that the law regulates the affairs of the Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice and duties and
powers of Muhtasibs (inspectors/morality police).However, the Islamic Emirate does not always consider UNAMA&s reactions and reports to be
accurate. Related stories:IEA supreme leader approves law on propagation of virtue and prevention of viceProtection of Islamic system
‘obligatory&: virtue and vice minister HanafiThe post UN in Afghanistan ‘concerned& about new morality law first appeared on Ariana
