Taliban reject UN concerns over laws banning women’s voices and bare faces in public

The Taliban on Monday rejected concerns and criticism of the United Nations over new vice and virtue laws which ban women in Afghanistan from baring their faces and speaking in public places.

Roza Otunbayeva, who heads the UN mission in the country, UNAMA, said on Sunday the laws provided a “distressing vision” for Afghanistan’s future. She said the laws extend the “ already intolerable restrictions ” on the rights of women and girls, with “even the sound of a female voice” outside the home apparently deemed a moral violation.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the main spokesman for the Taliban’s government, in a statement warned against “arrogance” from those who may not be familiar with Islamic sharia law, particularly non-Muslims who might express reservations or objections.

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers last Wednesday issued the country’s first set of laws to prevent vice and promote virtue.