The measure, strongly criticized by international organizations, represents another setback and coincided with the announcement of the release of two Americans who were detained
In a fresh attack on women’s freedoms and their right to academic education, the Taliban government announced on Tuesday that it will be barred from state-level university access “until further notice”. The news, strongly criticized by international organizations and NGOs, comes three months after thousands of female students passed the necessary exams to pursue higher education.
“It is recommended that they implement the order to suspend women’s education until further notice,” said a letter signed by the head of higher education Neda Mohammad Nadeem, which was sent to all public and private universities and is distributed by the Afghan news agency Jama Press. For his part, the Minister for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, Mohamad Khalid Hanafi, also specified this Tuesday that the reopening of educational centers, closed since the Taliban came to power, “depends in large part on the establishment of a decent cultural and religious environment.”
Non-governmental organizations such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) were quick to describe this decision as “shameful” and a violation of the “right to education” of women and girls in Afghanistan. “The Taliban make it clear every day that they do not respect the fundamental rights of Afghans, especially women,” he added.
Since the fundamentalist group came back to power in August last year, women’s rights and freedoms have been continuously and gradually curtailed. Universities had already been forced to implement new rules, including gender segregation in classrooms and center entrances. In addition, most adolescent girls across the country have been denied access to secondary education, frustrating their aspirations for higher education.
Although the Taliban promised the West to be more flexible in its interpretation of Islam, they remain as radical towards women as they were when they ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s. Not surprisingly, the country’s citizens are increasingly be pushed to the side. more than public life. They have no right to travel without being accompanied by a male relative and must cover their face with a burqa or hijab when they leave home. In November, they were also banned from parks, gardens, gymnasiums and public toilets, and female civil servants were barred from most public jobs.
Despite growing anger at the setbacks that followed the gains made by women in the years Afghanistan was controlled by the United States and its NATO allies, reprisals against them and fear are on the rise. The protests gather only a few dozen and countless protesters have been arrested.
The decision to ban women from university came on the same day the US government confirmed the release of two Americans who remained in Taliban hands. “We understand this as a gesture of goodwill by the Taliban. It is not part of an exchange of prisoners or detainees,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price, who noted that no money was involved.
Source: La Verdad
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