Taliban say they will respect Afghan women’s rights “under Islamic law”

The taliban, in his first press conference in Afghanistan since taking power, they have declared that there will be a “general amnesty” in the country, narcotics will end and women will be able to work, but according to “the precepts of Islam”.

“We do not want anyone to leave the country, it is your country, it is our common homeland, we have common values, a common religion, a common nation ”, said the main spokesperson for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, which was shown in public for the first time in decades.

“There is a general amnesty, so there will be no hostilities,” he said. In this context, assured that there will be no retaliation for subcontractors and translators who worked for international forces. “No one is going to hurt them, no one is going to look for them at their home,” he said.

Regarding women’s rights, she said: “We pledge to let women work according to the principles of Islam”.

Among other commitments, he pledged that Afghanistan “will not be a production center for any type of drug”.

“We pledge to let women work according to the principles of Islam”

Although the Taliban said they would not hunt down their enemies, some in Kabul say the fighters have lists of people who have cooperated with the government and are looking for them. An Afghan newscaster said she hid with a relative, too scared to return home, let alone work, following reports that insurgents are also looking for journalists. She said that she and other women did not believe the Taliban had changed the way they acted. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared for his safety.

Enamullah Samangani, A member of the Taliban Cultural Commission, he addressed women’s concerns, saying the Taliban was ready to “To provide women with a working and study environment, and the presence of women in different (governmental) structures in accordance with Islamic law and according to our cultural values.”

It would be a marked change from when the Taliban was last in power, when women were largely confined to their homes.

Another sign of the Taliban’s efforts to give a new image, a television host for the private network Tolo asked a Taliban official in a study on Tuesday, an interaction that would have previously been unthinkable. Meanwhile, hijab-clad women briefly protested in Kabul, waving banners demanding that the Taliban not “remove women” from public life.

A few hours earlier, the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) association had published a statement in which the Taliban leaders pledged to respect journalism.

“Journalists who work for public or private media are not criminals and none of them will be prosecuted”

“We will respect the freedom of the press, because the information from the media will be useful to society and can help correct the mistakes of the leaders,” spokesman Mujahid said in the text. “With this statement to RSF, we are telling the world that we recognize the importance of the role of the media,” he added in a telephone conversation with RSF. And he added: “Journalists who work for public or private media are not criminals and none of them will be prosecuted. In our opinion, these journalists are civilians and, in addition, it is talented young people who constitute our wealth ”.

Regarding female journalists, Mujahid said they would be allowed to continue working as long as they wear the hijab or their hair is covered. He said that a “legal framework” would be established and that in the meantime, they should “stay home stress free and fearless”.

(With information from EFE, AFP, EFE and Reuters)

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