RASC News Agency: The Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice announced on Tuesday that it had detained over 13,000 individuals over the past year for alleged “immoral activities.” The ministry also reported that it dismissed more than 280 of its own security personnel during this period for maintaining “trimmed beards.”
In a press briefing on Tuesday, officials from the Taliban’s Ministry of Propagation of Virtue lauded the arrests as significant accomplishments of the past year. However, the ministry failed to specify the nature of the alleged offenses or the gender of the 13,000 detainees. It is crucial to note that this ministry is at the forefront of the Taliban’s violations of human rights, particularly against women.
Last year, the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, the Taliban’s Minister of Propagation of Virtue, along with Fareeduddin Mahmoud, the head of the group’s Academy of Sciences, for their roles in human rights abuses. The Taliban’s morality enforcers routinely inspect men’s barbershops, often ordering closures for perceived violations.
The Ministry of Propagation of Virtue is one of the Taliban’s most influential institutions. Upon seizing power, the Taliban dismantled the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and established this ministry in its place. The ministry’s policies, particularly those restricting women’s rights to work, education, and free expression, have been widely condemned by human rights organizations and the United Nations.
Concurrently, since the Taliban’s takeover, the operations of the Independent Human Rights Commission and many women’s rights organizations in Afghanistan have been suspended. Additionally, officials from the Ministry of Propagation of Virtue reported that over the past year, they have destroyed 21,328 musical instruments across Afghanistan.
