The ruler of the Afghan Taliban on Saturday ordered all Afghan women to wear head-to-to-toe clothes in public-a sharp pivot and hardliners who confirmed the worst concerns of rights activists and were bound to make it more difficult for Taliban transactions with the international community with the international community no longer believe.
The decree said that women must leave home only if needed, and that relatives of men will face sentences – starting with calls and increasing to court hearing and prison time – for violating women’s clothing code.
That is the newest of a series of repressive decree issued by the Taliban leadership, not all of them have been applied. Last month, for example, the Taliban forbade women to travel alone, but after one day the opposition, it was silent.