In the first press conference after taking power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban assured that it would follow a very moderate policy. They promised that girls would be able to attend schools, that women’s rights would be respected, and that none of the authorities’ opponents would face retaliation. DW analyzed whether the Taliban kept their promises.

Women’s rights will be respected under Islamic law

Declaration: At their first press conference in August 2021, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid emphasized: “Women will be very active in society, but within the precepts of Islam.” As part of these recommendations, they should be allowed to work and study.

Checking the facts DW: false

When the Taliban took over, many feared that their government would be as harsh on women as it was in the 1990s. A year later, the Taliban introduced many rules restricting women’s lives.

In public places, women must wear clothing that covers them from head to toe. If a woman does not hide her face outside her own home, her father or next of kin could be arrested or fired from public service. Women cannot board the aircraft without a male escort. That guardian must be a husband or close male relative who has reached puberty.

Access to public parks in Afghanistan is segregated by gender. Three days a week are reserved for women, four – for men. However, the authorities issued a decree strongly advising women to leave their homes only when necessary.

The Taliban explains these decisions with security considerations. But experts believe these restrictions are not subject to Islamic law. Afghan theologian Syed Abdul Hadi Hedayat opposes the Taliban’s mandate that Afghan women cover their bodies. “Muslim countries and clerics agree on wearing the hijab itself, but there are different opinions about its appearance,” he explains in an interview with DW, adding that the face, hands and feet are not among the areas that Islam says should be. be covered.

In some areas, the Taliban also restricted access to work. “Most public servants are required to stay at home, with the exception of those working in areas such as health or education,” notes the Amnesty International report. men cannot replace.” Many women in high positions have been laid off – even in the private sector.

Such an approach is contrary to Islamic principles. “Women were treated equally in Islam, especially in education,” said Farid Yunus, professor of Middle Eastern studies and Islamic philosophy at California State University in East Bay.

According to Islamic teachings, education is mandatory for both men and women, explain Hedayat and Yunus.

According to Amnesty International, women who protest against restrictions and rules imposed by the Taliban are being harassed, threatened, imprisoned and even tortured.

Girls will still be able to go to school

Declaration: Within weeks of the Taliban taking power, girls were allowed to return to schools, with classes segregated by gender. However, high school girls were not allowed to attend classes. On 21 September, Taliban spokesman Mujahid said that the Ministry of Education was making every effort to “create conditions for girls to attend secondary schools as quickly as possible”. Deadlines were not specified.

Fact Check DW: False

Volunteers teach Afghan girls who cannot attend elementary and high school.

In March, the Ministry of Education announced that classes would be open to all students, including girls. However, the next day, when the girls first appeared in class, the ministry reversed its order and asked the girls to drop out of schools. The lack of teachers and difficulties with school uniforms were cited as reasons. It was promised that once the plan was developed in line with “Islamic law and Afghan culture”, schools would be open to girls. Since then, nothing has happened.

General amnesty for former opponents

Declaration: On August 17, 2021, Mujahid stated, “I want to assure all compatriots that they were important, regardless of whether they worked as translators, whether they participated in military activities or were civilians. No one will be avenged.” He added: “Thousands of soldiers fought with us during the twenty years of occupation. All of them were forgiven.”

checking the facts DW: false

Amnesty International reports “a wave of murders […]with the Taliban taking power”, as well as about “house searches” in search of alleged “collaborators” in the first few days after the Taliban came to power in Kabul. After that, the Islamists apparently did not carry out a revenge campaign. total against former enemies.

However, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has recorded at least 160 extrajudicial executions, 178 arbitrary arrests, 23 prisoners held in isolation and 56 cases of torture of former public officials and security agents by the Taliban since 15 August 2021 to June 15, 2022.

The same fate, according to the UN, befell dozens of alleged members of the Islamic State (IS) branch of the terrorist group in Afghanistan, which calls itself IS-Khorasan, and the Afghan National Resistance Front (FNA).

A report by the Human Rights Assistance Mission in Afghanistan concludes that amnesty was not granted in several cases.

Journalists may not be afraid of threats and intimidation

Declaration: The Taliban promised Reporters Without Borders to uphold the principles of independent media and freedom of the press as long as they did not violate the “cultural framework” established by the Taliban.

Checking the facts DW: False.

A few days after taking power in Kabul, Taliban militants killed a relative of a DW journalist they were hunting. In September 2021, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) reported that Fahim Dashti, head of the Afghanistan National Union of Journalists (ANJU), was killed in a clash between the Taliban and fighters from the Afghan National Resistance Front (NRFA) .

Human rights organizations have no concrete evidence that the journalists were killed by the Taliban. However, there is little doubt that press freedom has deteriorated since the Taliban took over Kabul. Of the more than 10,000 people who worked in Afghan newsrooms in July 2021, only 4,360 remained in December, according to a report by Reporters Without Borders. According to a study by the ANJU and the IFJ, 318 national media outlets have been shut down since the Taliban came to power.

In January 2022, a Taliban spokesperson told DW that the regime had not closed any establishments, but some had closed because they ran out of funding. In the same interview, he acknowledged that media coverage of Afghanistan must abide by rules that in Western countries can be perceived as too restrictive.

In March, the Taliban banned several international media outlets from broadcasting in Afghanistan, including the BBC, Voice of America and DW. A month later, at least ten journalists were arrested. According to the ANJU study, lack of access to information, self-censorship, fear of reprisals and the economic crisis are the main reasons for the “unprecedented collapse of the Afghan media”.

The supply of illegal drugs from Afghanistan will be stopped

Declaration: After the Taliban came to power, their spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said: “We assure our compatriots and the international community that we will not produce drugs.” He recalled that in 2000 the Taliban stopped producing poppy-based drugs.

Checking the facts DW: not verifiable

For decades, Afghanistan was the world’s largest producer and exporter of heroin and opium. According to a study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in 2020 this country provided about 85% of all non-medicinal opioids in the world.

In early April of this year, the Taliban banned the cultivation of poppies and threatened farmers with imprisonment and burning their fields if they violated the ban. Mullah Abdulhak Akhund, deputy interior minister, told the AP that the Taliban is working with other governments and non-governmental organizations to find alternative crops to generate income for farmers.

So far, the Taliban appear to be delivering on that promise. According to a World Bank study, poppy production in Afghanistan dropped to almost zero after the Taliban banned its cultivation in 2000, only to increase again after the regime was overthrown in late 2001.

However, experts doubt that efforts to eradicate opioid production will be effective and sustainable this time around. After all, drug trafficking is an important part of the country’s economy: in 2021, its revenue was from 1.8 to 2.7 billion dollars. The total cost of opiates was 9 to 14 percent of Afghanistan’s GDP.