Kabul, May 21 (IANS) The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has expressed “grave concern” over a new Taliban family law regulation on Thursday. According to UNAMA, the law published by the ruling Taliban’s Ministry of Justice on May 14 codifies laws governing judicial separation grounds for women. It said that the law operates in a “deeply unequal framework”, where women must pursue complex and restrictive judicial procedures while men retain the unilateral right to divorce.
“Decree No. 18 is part of a broader and deeply concerning trajectory in which the rights of Afghan women and girls are being eroded,” said Georgette Gagnon, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Officer-in-Charge of UNAMA.
“The Decree further institutionalises discrimination and, when combined with restrictions on girls’ education and women’s public participation, entrenches a system in which Afghan women and girls are denied autonomy, opportunity, and access to justice,” Gagnon said.
UNAMA noted that the law should be viewed with a broader context, with measures which are affecting the rights of women since the Taliban government took over in 2021.
It said that the initial decree in December 2021 (Special Decree on Women’s Rights) recognised certain rights for women’s consent to marriage and inheritance, and these protections were undermined by successive decrees restricting women’s autonomy, before, during and after the marriage.
Decree No 18, which devoted a chapter to the separation of girls who reach puberty and who are married, also implies that child marriage is allowed; it highlighted.
The decree also allows a girl’s silence to be interpreted as consent to a marriage as she reaches puberty, it added.
UNAMA reiterated that Afghanistan is bound by its international human rights obligations, including commitments to eliminate discrimination against women and protect the rights of the child.
“UNAMA calls on the de facto authorities to align their laws, policies and practices with their international human rights obligations, including safeguarding consent to marriage, eliminating child marriage, ensuring access to justice, and protecting the rights and dignity of all individuals,” it said.
