Taliban Will Appoint Deported Clerics From Pakistan As Ombudsmen

On Monday, the Taliban's Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, announced that it will provide job opportunities to clerics who have returned from Pakistan to Afghanistan.

Taliban’s spokesperson for the ministry in a statement said that these people will be appointed as "ombudsmen".

Following the takeover of power in 2021, the Taliban formed a cabinet in which the Ministry of Women's Affairs was nullified, and the Taliban's Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice was established instead.

In the past two years, this Taliban ministry has issued a series of orders that, according to international human rights organisations, violate the fundamental rights of Afghan citizens. It has appointed ombudsmen all over Afghanistan who widely and systematically restrict the freedoms of citizens.

Despite its declaration that ombudsmen do not have the right to use violence against the people, Afghanistan International has documented numerous cases of such violence by them in the last two years.

Afghanistan International published video clips showing that Taliban ombudsmen have been subjecting people to harsh treatment in various provinces.