31 March 2024 :

In a bold statement addressing Western democracies, the Taliban's supreme leader reaffirmed the group's harsh policies towards women, specifically the punishment for adultery.
According to a voice message broadcasted on state controlled media on March 23, 2024 and translated by The Telegraph, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada declared, "You say it’s a violation of women’s rights when we stone them to death. But we will soon implement the punishment for adultery. We will flog women in public. We will stone them to death in public."
These remarks underscore the Taliban's intention to revert to the extreme policies that characterized its rule in Afghanistan during the 1990s.
Despite international condemnation and calls for the observance of human rights, particularly women's rights, the Taliban has continued, and now officially confirmed, its commitment to these brutal practices, a Fox News report said.
The international community has watched with growing alarm as the Taliban, since their return to power in August 2021, have resumed capital punishments and public executions.
According to a United Nations report in May 2023, 175 individuals had been sentenced under these draconian measures, including 37 people condemned to stoning.
It remains unclear how many of the sentenced individuals are women, the Fox News report said.
In a direct rebuttal to global criticism regarding the suppression of women's rights under Taliban rule, Akhundzada said, "These are all against your democracy, but we will continue doing it. We both say we defend human rights – we do it as God’s representative and you as the devil’s." He further criticized the Western concept of women's rights, claiming they contradict the Taliban's strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.
The international community, particularly entities such as the United Nations, has urged the Taliban to adhere to basic human rights standards. Yet, the Taliban leader's recent statements signal a continued defiance against democratic values and international norms, particularly concerning women's rights.
The resurgence of such policies poses a significant setback for human rights in Afghanistan, especially for women who have seen their freedoms drastically curtailed since the Taliban's takeover. Akhundzada's message serves as a stark reminder of the ideological and cultural chasm that separates the Taliban's Afghanistan from the principles of Western democracies.