Afghanistan: Taliban ban media from showing images of living beings

On Monday, the Taliban implemented a new law, which bans the media from showing images of living beings, both animals and humans.

Following the announcement from the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the regime's media outlets have stopped broadcasting images of living beings in some provinces.

Saiful Islam Khyber, a spokesman for the ministry, spoke to AFP and said that "the law applies throughout Afghanistan." He added that "it will be implemented gradually."

The official stated that the authorities will try to convince people that images of living beings are against the “Shariah” (Islamic law) and should be avoided. "These are just tips," he claimed.

The new law also states that the media should not contradict Islamic law, mock Islam or humiliate the religion.

However, it is believed that the law targets not only the regime’s media but also the independent media, which have already expressed concern about it.

In fact, Hojatullah Mojadedi, director of the Afghanistan Independent Journalists Association, stated that the non-regime media also stopped broadcasting images of living beings.

An Afghan journalist, who anonymously spoke to AFP, said the Taliban asked cameramen to start capturing images from afar and cover fewer events to begin adapting to the new law.

The Taliban banned the sound of women's voices in public, among other harsh restrictions

Last August, the Taliban issued a series of laws aimed at further restricting the freedoms of its citizens, including banning women from speaking in public. They are not allowed to be heard singing, reading out loud or talking.

The new laws, which were approved by Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, also require women to cover their bodies in public spaces, mainly their faces, to avoid tempting themselves and others. They must also cover themselves in front of non-Muslim men and women so as not to corrupt themselves.

In addition, laws issued by the Islamic fundamentalist regime state that women must wear clothing that is neither tight-fitting nor short.

"A slow death"

Afghan activist Laila Basim (30) recently wrote an article in the Spanish newspaper El País describing the hard life women have been facing in Afghanistan since the Taliban regained power there following the chaotic U.S. withdrawal in August 2021.

Basim, who now lives in the United States with her husband and three children, described life governed by Taliban government laws in the country as"slow death." In fact, she explained that she and other women lost their jobs due to the tight restrictions of the radical Islamists currently ruling Afghanistan.

Basim explained that the Taliban have banned women over the age of 12 from attending schools and universities. They have been fired from their positions in the government and they are not allowed to travel more than 40 miles without the company of a man, among other repressive measures.

The young author said she had a miscarriage due to being beaten by Taliban forces during a protest in 2022. She also saw a young neighbor girl killed by her brother for refusing to submit to a forced marriage. She witnessed two women who were stoned to death because they were not wearing a veil. She even saw a shooting execution of clerics branded as infidels, among other atrocities. In addition, she said that she repeatedly saw young women killed in the street.

Spanish organizations file a complaint against the Taliban before the International Criminal Court

The Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de España (APDHE) filed a complaint with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court against the Taliban for committing crimes against humanity as a result of the oppressive laws imposed by the Islamist regime.

The complaint filed by APDHE is supported by ten associations. The Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that all these organizations have also urged the Spanish government to promote the criminalization of apartheid on the grounds of gender.