UN Says Taliban Have Arrested Hundreds for Breaking Strict Rules

The United Nations says the Taliban, the group that rules Afghanistan, arrested at least 443 people in just three months. Most of those arrests happened because people broke strict rules about clothing, hair, prayer, or music. The UN released this information in a new report covering July 1 to September 30 of last year. The report shows how tightly the Taliban control everyday life in Afghanistan.

The Taliban have a set of rules called the "morality law." This law is enforced by officials called morality inspectors, who have the power to stop, arrest, and even physically punish people they believe are breaking the rules. The United Nations Human Rights Commission said in 2024 that this law gives inspectors "extensive power to arbitrarily detain and punish individuals, including physically." The rules cover things like how people dress, how men wear their beards, and whether people attend group prayers at a mosque.

The UN report also found 97 cases where Afghan women and men were treated badly by Taliban officials. Women and girls have been especially affected. The UN said that between July and September, 52 women and girls were arrested for several hours in the cities of Herat and Kabul. They were stopped for things like having visible hair, wearing colorful scarves, putting on makeup, or being outside without a male relative called a mahram.

The Taliban took back control of Afghanistan in 2021. Since then, they have issued more than 100 orders placing restrictions on women and girls. These rules require women to cover their entire bodies in loose clothing when they go out. Women are also banned from going to high school or university, traveling long distances alone, and visiting many public spaces. A report from UN Women called the situation in Afghanistan "the world's most severe women's rights crisis."

World leaders have spoken out against these policies. On September 23, Asif Mahmood, who leads the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said the Taliban are continuing their "repressive crackdown" against people who break or are thought to have broken their narrow rules about religion. He pointed out that women and girls continue to suffer the most from these harsh decrees. The United Nations says these rules are taking away the basic rights of women and girls and causing serious harm to families and communities across the country.