For the first time after taking Afghanistan, the Taliban said what would happen to women, opponents and secularists: “It will not be a democracy”

As the world waits for the shape of the Taliban government Afghanistan -with particular concern over their treatment of women- one of the group’s spokespersons, Waheedullah Hashimi, confirmed to the agency Reuters that the country it won’t be a democracy.

“There will be no democratic system because it has no base in our country,” he said. “We are not going to discuss what kind of political system we should apply in Afghanistan because it is clear. it’s sharia (Islamic law) and that’s it, ”he ruled.

Hashimi in turn clarified that the country could be governed by a council, while the supreme leader of the Islamist movement, Haibatullah Akhundzada, he will probably remain in control.

The power structure described by the spokesperson would have similarities to how the Taliban ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001. Thus, the Supreme Leader, Mullah Omar, has remained in the shadows and left the daily management of the country in the hands of a council.

Akhundzada would likely play a role above the head of the council, which would be similar to that of the country’s president, Hashimi added. “Maybe his deputy (Akhundzada) will play the role of ‘president’,” said Hashimi, who spoke in English.

Then, this post could go to one of the three other main leaders of the movement: Mawlavi Yaqub, son of Mullah Omar; Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the powerful Haqqani militant network, and Abdul Ghani Baradar, who heads the Taliban political bureau in Doha and is one of the group’s founding members.

Regarding women, Hashimi said it will be “the ulemas” (Islamic theologians and jurists) who will decide “whether girls can go to school or not” and what type of clothing must wear, “Whether a hijab, the burqa, just a veil or nothing.” “It depends on them,” he concluded.

What the Taliban regime looked like 20 years ago

Although they say that this time everything will be different, the memories of the regime of terror that the Taliban imposed are still very present. between 1996 and 2001 in the name of strict Islamic law. Next games, music, photography and television prohibited. Thieves have had their hands cut off, murderers have been executed in public and homosexuals have been killed.

They denied women the right to work or even to go out on the streets without being accompanied by a relative. Girls’ schools have been closed. Women accused of adultery were whipped and stoned to death. They were also forced to wear the burqa, that veil that covers from head to toe and covers the eyes with a mesh.

Men were required to wear long beards, attend prayers under pain of flogging, and wear traditional clothing, the shalwar kameez. The Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Suppression of Vice reigned in terror, with squads roaming the streets to enforce its harsh laws.

The request of the European Union, the United States and Argentina

This Wednesday, the European Union, the United States and 18 other countries, including Argentina, said they were “deeply concerned” about the situation of women in Afghanistan and urged the Taliban to avoid “discrimination and abuse” and guarantee their rights.

“We ask the power and all the Afghan authorities to guarantee their protection,” they added.

The international community is “Ready to participate (to the women of the country) so that their voices are heard “they added.