Investigate the historical Taliban decrees, their implications for human rights in Afghanistan, and the potential direction of future laws under the current regime.
The first edition of the Crosslines Essential Field Guide to Afghanistan, which was published in 1998 during the height of the first Taliban era (1996-2001), quickly became known as the “Taliban edition.” (Three more fully-revised editions were published with the last one in 2014). This was primarily because its editors (Edward Girardet and Jonathan Walter) spent part of 1997 reporting from Talib-controlled Afghanistan before returning to Geneva, where they holed up in a Swiss NGO hostel to write and do the final editing. This included commissioning a wide array of essays and ‘infobriefs’ by Afghan experts ranging from experienced journalists and human rights specialists to agricultural researchers, humanitarian aid coordinators and ethnologists.
When published, the book quickly became a must-read for anyone dealing with Afghanistan or the region. This first edition was quickly pirated and sold in Kabul by street children. The editors weren’t too happy about getting ripped off by a Pakistani publisher (there was – and still is – no effective copyright in either Pakistan or Afghanistan) as all proceeds were supposed to be poured back into the project for updating purposes, but at least the kids were making something out of it.
And when the U.S. military and its Coalition partners invaded in October, 2001, to oust the Taliban, copies were picked up left and right by soldiers, aid workers, journalists and diplomats. Whole sections were unabashedly re-produced by organizations, such as NATO and Oxfam, for their own use. None bothered to contribute to our reporting kitty, but at least they were informed.
One of the most popular sections was our “Tali-Bans” chapter, where we reproduced verbatim the sixteen decrees issued by Amr Bei Maruf wa Nai Az Munkar, otherwise known as the Department for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, in other words, the Religious Police. It was hard to fathom the rationale behind them, such as bans on kite flying, a popular pastime of children, or the keeping of pigeons, but the Taliban obviously had their reasons.
But some of the Bans were positively medieval, such as different proposed options for dealing with homosexuals or the virtual incarceration of women in their homes. Since the Talib takeover of Kabul in mid-August 2021, gay men and women have voiced their concerns on the BBC and other international media, but also UN agencies such as UNICEF and UNHCHR, about the treatment they can expect to receive. Some have already been reported beaten savagely and killed by the Taliban or Afghans seeking to ingratiate themselves with the new masters of Kabul. The irony is that many well-known Afghan jokes and even poetry refer to the men of Kandahar (where the Taliban originated) indulging in buggery or the use/abuse of little boys for sexual pleasure.
It will be interesting to see whether the ‘new’ Taliban embrace, either fully or partially, any of these former decrees now that they have taken the bulk of the country, including a largely westernized Kabul of 5-6 million people, over half of whom (60 per cent of Afghans are under the age of 25) have never experienced the first harsh rule (1996-2001) of the Taliban. When the anti-Taliban United Front, or Northern Alliance relinquished the Afghan capital in November 1996 to avoid bloodshed, the city had barely one million people and was heavily devastated.
The question now is whether people will bow down to any of the new decrees. For example, while it was relatively easy to ban music cassettes and videos during their first regime (the further away from Kabul the 1990s Taliban themselves continued to listen to music or wanted photographs taken of themselves), how are they going to deal with the internet, computers and smart phones in 2021? Even the Taliban have relied heavily on social media to get across their points of view.
Further decrees specifically aimed at foreigners, UN agencies and other international organizations were issued by the Department for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.
“There must be a group of people amongst you to conduct the others towards goodness, welfare, virtues and prevent them from vices. The Islamic Shari’a law is completely valid in our country. Therefore, all the Muslim citizens should observe and act accordingly.”
“All the expatriates who are living in Afghanistan should respect and observe the Islamic laws and rules. Based on the policy and working directions of this Department we communicate the following:”
The Religious Police continued to release various press releases with new rules, such as “we kindly request all our Afghan sisters to not apply for any job in foreign agencies…” (November, 1996)
“Women, you should not step outside of your residence. If you go outside the house you should not be like women who used to go with fashionable clothes wearing much cosmetics and appearing in front of every men before the coming of Islam…” (January, 1997)
“Some of the Aid Agencies in Kabul and provinces are using some pictures of people in their publications which is against the Islamic Shari’a law…” (February 1997)
“Hereby we announce to all expatriates and national staff of Non Governmental Organizations to avoid carrying video, casettes and alcoholic drinks to or from Afghanistan…” (March 1997).
“All animal pictures and drawings of crosses hung in motor vehicles, houses and any other place should be removed…” (October 1997).
On gay men…”We have a dilemma on this. The difficult is this. One group of scholars believes you should take these people to the top of the highest building in the city, and hurl them to their deaths. (The other group) believes in a different approach. They recommend you dig a ditch near a wall somewhere, put these people in it, then topple the wall so that they are buried alive. A third group of scholars argue that homosexuals should be put on public display for a few hours with blackened faces…” Mullah Hassan, Governor of Kandahar.
On women…“Women just aren’t as smart as men. They don’t have the intelligence. We categorically refuse to let women vote or participate in politics.” Nur Mohammed, Governor of Herat (The Sunday Times, London, 24 March, 1996)
For further details on The Essential Field Guides to Afghanistan (1998-2014), please see: LINK
Focus on Afghanistan: Terror attacks and the guilt of leaving.
Focus on Afghanistan: The country’s ‘Businesswoman of the Year’ escapes from Kabul.
Focus on Afghanistan: The Essential Field Guide to Afghanistan. 4th fully-revised edition. (2014) – Available in e-edition – a few hard copies remaining.
Focus on Afghanistan: Afghan Waterloo: Graveyard for the British, Soviet, and US Empires
Focus on Afghanistan: What did you expect?
Focus on Afghanistan: The West’s abandonment of Afghanistan: A story of arrogance, ineptitude, and little understanding
Focus on Afghanistan: “We tried to tell you”
Focus on Afghanistan: What to do about Afghanistan’s growing disaster: Two key articles