Drought Disrupting Agriculture & Livestock Across Half Of Afghanistan, Says UN

In a post written in Pashto regarding the arrest of six university students on blasphemy charges, Saif-ul-Islam Khyber inserted slashes between letters in the ministry’s name, rendering it as: “Am/robelm/a/roof aw nah/yi an el/m/unkar aw shikayatoon awreedlo wezarat” — a distorted version of “Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice and Listening to Complaints.”

This marks the first known instance in which the ministry’s spokesperson has avoided using the ministry’s full name on X. It suggests that the platform may be actively monitoring or restricting content that includes direct references to Taliban institutions.

Previously, Facebook and other platforms introduced similar restrictions on accounts using the Taliban’s name following the group’s return to power in 2021. In response, many users adopted tactics such as altered spellings, inserted punctuation, and spacing to bypass algorithmic detection.

The Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has been widely criticised for enforcing decrees that have severely restricted civil liberties, particularly the rights of women and girls, across Afghanistan. International human rights groups have consistently condemned the ministry’s role in implementing orders issued by Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.

Under the group’s Promotion of Virtue law, the ministry’s so-called morality police are empowered to monitor citizens’ dress, behaviour, and beliefs. They routinely detain individuals accused of violating the group’s interpretation of Islamic conduct.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, 6 August, the women urged the United Nations to immediately halt the forced return of Afghan refugees from neighbouring states, warning of severe and irreversible consequences.

The statement, released by the women’s rights group Window of Hope and shared with Afghanistan International, described the expulsions as a direct threat to the lives of thousands of women, children and families who fled persecution, war and tyranny.

The group warned that sending women and girls back to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan is effectively returning them to “hell” where they are denied education, employment, freedom of movement and the right to live with dignity.

The statement also highlighted a rise in gender-based violence, increased suicide rates among women and girls, growing poverty, homelessness and worsening humanitarian conditions as likely outcomes of continued deportations.

Window of Hope called on the United Nations, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), international human rights organisations and governments to urgently establish a UN-led monitoring and protection mechanism specifically for Afghan migrant women. The group said such a framework is essential to prevent further expulsions and to protect those most at risk.

The group concluded that the deportation of Afghan women under current conditions constitutes complicity in gender apartheid.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Lindsay confirmed that a meeting had been convened to address the ongoing human rights crisis in Afghanistan. The meeting was attended by the Asia director of Human Rights Watch, the UN special rapporteur on the situation in Afghanistan, and several human rights activists.

Since seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban have been accused of widespread human rights abuses, including the suppression of fundamental freedoms and systemic discrimination against women and girls.

Human rights organisations have documented a range of restrictive policies imposed by the group, including bans on girls’ education, restrictions on women’s employment, and crackdowns on freedom of expression, assembly and dissent.

The UK and other international actors continue to call for mechanisms to ensure that those responsible for rights violations in Afghanistan are held to account under international law.

According to separate statements released on Tuesday, the court said nine people in Kabul were convicted of “selling and trafficking drugs” and sentenced to between 10 and 20 lashes, in addition to prison terms ranging from one to 18 months.

In a separate case, one individual in Maidan Wardak was convicted of theft and sentenced to 39 lashes.

The Taliban has regularly reported corporal punishments since returning to power in August 2021, including public floggings and executions. The group claims these practices are in line with Islamic Sharia law.

However, human rights organisations have condemned the Taliban’s judicial process, stating that it lacks fundamental legal safeguards. Defendants often do not have access to legal representation, and trials are conducted behind closed doors.

The United Nations has repeatedly urged the Taliban to end corporal punishment, calling it a violation of international human rights standards.

The meeting included business figures from Turkiye, Qatar, Bahrain, Palestine, Yemen, Oman, Jordan, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Malaysia and India.

During the meeting, Azizi highlighted what he described as investment opportunities and a favourable business environment in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has historically relied heavily on imports and international aid. Since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, much of that aid has been suspended, and many foreign investors have withdrawn from the country due to security concerns and a lack of international recognition.

Despite remaining largely politically and economically isolated, with Russia being the only country to formally accept Taliban diplomats, the group continues to seek foreign investment as a means of revitalising the Afghan economy.