The Taliban Prohibit All Demonstrations in Afghanistan and Pass a New Law for the “Sharia Police”

The Taliban Prohibit All Demonstrations in Afghanistan and Pass a New Law for the “Sharia Police”

The Taliban movement has enacted a new law that prohibits the organization of all demonstrations across Afghanistan, turning the restrictions on protests from security measures and field practices into a ban supported by a formal legal framework. The law, which comprises 53 articles, stipulates in its fiftieth article the prevention of organizing any demonstration within Afghan territories, without providing clear details regarding possible exceptions or the penalties for violating the ban.

The law also restructures the police force under the name “Sharia Police,” specifying its duties and authorities in maintaining security and public order, protecting properties, facilities, and airports, handling emergencies, and preventing the possession of unlicensed weapons and ammunition. The law grants the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior the responsibility for implementing its provisions, alongside defining the powers of security officials responsible for maintaining security and order in the capital and provinces.

The legislation includes provisions on the treatment of detainees and accused individuals, prohibiting any measures that harm the detainee’s health or dignity. It also bans beating prisoners and accused persons with sticks, whips, or cables and subjecting them to torture without a judicial order.

The approval of this law comes at a time when the space for public protests in Afghanistan has significantly diminished since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021. Earlier protest gatherings, especially those organized by women, faced dispersal, arrests, and stringent security measures. The city of Herat witnessed protests last June following the arrest of women due to alleged violations of dress codes, which led to security forces intervening to disperse the demonstrators amidst reports of casualties and arrests of several participants.

The lack of clear mechanisms for implementing the ban and the penalties associated with it raises concerns about granting security agencies broad leeway to interpret the law’s provisions. The new legislation is expected to increase the restrictions on freedom of assembly, expression, and civil activity, particularly impacting women and civil society activists.

Incorporating the prohibition of demonstrations into an official law represents a new phase in the Taliban’s policy towards protests, making the prevention of protest gatherings an overt component of the legal system implemented by the movement in Afghanistan.