The Taliban government in Afghanistan today issued a decree on women's rights, according to which women should not be considered 'property' and should give their consent to a marriage, without including a reference to women's access in their education or ability to work outside the home.
The Taliban have come under pressure from the international community, which has frozen most funds for Afghanistan, to commit to respecting women's rights since the hardline Islamist group took power in the country on August 15.
"Women are not property, but a noble and free human being, no one can give her to anyone in exchange for peace; or the end of hostility," said a Taliban decree issued by spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
The decree sets out the rules governing marriage and property for women, stating that women should not be forced into marriage and widows should have a share in the property of their deceased husband.
The courts should take the rules into account when making decisions and the ministries of religious affairs and information should promote these rights, in accordance with the decree.
However, there is no mention of women being able to work or access out-of-home facilities or education, issues of great concern to the international community.
During their previous rule, from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban barred women from leaving the house unaccompanied by a male relative and without having their face and head fully covered, and girls being educated.
The Taliban say they have changed and some provinces have been allowed to open secondary schools for girls. Yet many women and rights activists retain their reservations.
The international community, which has 'frozen' billions in central bank capital and development resources, has highlighted women's rights as a key element in any future commitment to Afghanistan.
The country, which is also hit by a liquidity crisis in banks as cash runs out due to sanctions, is also facing the risk of economic collapse since the Taliban took power.
The Taliban are "brothers" for former President Hamid Karzai
Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has adopted a conciliatory tone against the fundamentalist Islamist Taliban movement, saying in an interview with British public television, the BBC, that the recent exchanges with them were issues ».
Mr Karzai, the head of state from 2001 to 2014, when the war between foreign and Afghan troops and insurgents raged, assured that "I see the Taliban as brothers, I see all other Afghans as brothers".
The country must unite, he insisted. "We are a people. We are a nation. "All Afghans have suffered."
He is optimistic, he said, that women and girls will soon return to schools, universities, workplaces. The Taliban have denied them any access.
Mr Karzai claimed that Taliban leaders with whom he had discussed "agree with us, understand it and say it will happen". He did not say when he thought the ban would be lifted.
The former president also urged Afghans fleeing the country as the Taliban regained power in the Southeast Asian country in August to return to help rebuild.
Asked if he had any message for US President Joe Biden and his government, Hamid Karzai said "they would do well to come and help the Afghan people". The United States, its allies and the international community "must help Afghanistan rebuild, heal the wounds suffered by all sides," he added.
Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ - Reuters