Amnesty International said that despite the Islamic Emirate's continued assurances that they respect the rights of women and girls, "millions of women and girls have been systematically discriminated against since the Taliban became the de-facto authorities," the organization said.
Amnesty International called on the international community to “hold the Taliban accountable.”
Human Rights Watch called the international community’s response about the recent restriction on women "disappointing."
“I have to say that the international community’s response both over the past two weeks and over the last nine months has been very disappointing. You know, I think that most of the foreign diplomats dealing with Afghanistan are men, they don’t seem to be as concerned about the women’s rights situation as they should be and overall there seems to be this great desire to kind of move on from Afghanistan and forget about it. And this is unforgivable given the role that all of these countries have played over the last 20 years in creating the current situation,” said Heather Barr, director of the Women's Rights Division at Human Rights Watch.
Norway Ambassador Ole Andreas Lindeman in his meetings with Islamic Emirate’s officials discussed the importance of a free press and women's equal and meaningful participation in society.
The order of the Ministry of Vice and Virtue has faced widespread reactions at a national and international level.
“The international organization and human rights organizations, the European Union and UNAMA should take practical steps instead of making statements,” said Monisa Mubariz, a women’s rights activist.
The male presenters at TOLOnews and other influential journalists across the world wore masks in solidarity with the Afghan female presenters and launched a Twitter hashtag campaign #freeherface.
Meanwhile, public relations analysts said that wearing masks during TV programs affects the conveying of messages in the news.
“The covering of faces causes the TV presenters trouble pronouncing words and narrating the sentences,” said Nabil Rahil, a university instructor.
TOLOnews and other TV channels in Kabul on Sunday followed an order of the Ministry of Vice and Virtue regarding covering female presenters’ faces. However, TOLOnews maintained its arguments in this regard, saying there was no clear indication regarding covering female presenters' faces on TV programs in the recent decree about Hijab by the Islamic Emirate’s leadership.
In addition, TOLOnews said it "considers images of female presenters on TV as virtual and not the actual presence of women, and therefore stands on its position regarding this matter."
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