A24 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.SUNDAY, MAY 8 , 2022
BY SUSANNAH GEORGEislamabad, pakistan — Mus-
lim women in Afghanistan must
cover from head to toe in public,
according to a Taliban ruling an-
nounced Saturday, its latest move
to constrain the lives of women
since taking control of the coun-
try last year.
“This is not a restriction on
women but an order of the
Quran,” said Akif Muhajir, a
spokesman for the Ministry of
Virtue and Prevention of Vice,
referring to the Taliban’s strict
interpretation of Islamic law. “It
is the order of Allah and the
prophet Muhammad.”
The Taliban’s treatment of
women has been a key point of
contention as the group has
pushed for formal international
recognition and increased aid
money to address the country’s
spiraling economic crisis. When
asked for greater engagement
with the Taliban, the internation-
al community has repeatedly re-
quested a demonstration of great-
er respect for women’s rights,
among other things.
Women may choose to wear the
head-to-toe b urqa, or a cloth veil
covering the face paired with a
headscarf and long robe called an
abaya, Muhajir said.
Women who appear in publicin violation of the new guidelines
on dress will first be issued warn-
ings, the ministry’s announce-
ment stated. Those who continue
to disregard the ruling will have
their homes identified and their
male relatives summoned for
punishment that could include
prison time, the Taliban said at a
news conference Saturday.
The ministry called on the me-
dia and mosques to encourage
women to comply. “Muslim wom-
en are not worried” about the
ruling, Muhajir said. Taliban lead-
ers have traveled the country in
recent months trying to convince
Afghans that such a law is in line
with Islamic teachings.Several Afghan women and ac-
tivists spoke out against the or-
der.
“Believe me, we lost our way,”
said Benazir Baktash, a 26-year-
old local television presenter in
Kabul, who said she felt personal-
ly “hurt” by the news and would
prefer that the Taliban focus on
some of the more serious issues
facing Afghanistan.
“They should issue rulings to
decrease poverty and help people
find jobs,” she said.
While not legally required to do
so under the previous govern-
ment, most Afghan women have
traditionally covered their hair in
public. When the Taliban con-trolled Afghanistan in the 1990s,
all women were required to wear
head-to-toe coverings. But after
the group was ousted, face cover-
ings became less common in ur-
ban parts of the country.
Since the Taliban takeover in
August, the group has imprisoned
dozens of women’s rights activ-
ists, restricted access to education
for women and girls, and blocked
women from international travel
without a male guardian. Many
women have also been barred
from the workplace under Tali-
ban rule because of guidelines
forbidding men and women to
work in proximity to one another.
“This decision contradicts nu-merous assurances regarding re-
spect for and protection of all
Afghans’ human rights, including
those of women and girls,” the
United Nations mission in Af-
ghanistan said in a statement ex-
pressing deep concern.
The statement warned that the
ruling may “further strain en-
gagement with the international
community,” and said the mission
would “immediately request
meetings with the Taliban de fac-
to authorities to seek clarification
on the status of this decision.”Haq Nawaz Khan in Peshawar,
Pakistan, and Aziz Tassal in Houston
contributed to this report.Taliban orders women to cover from head to toe in public in Afghanistan
BY AMANDA COLETTAIt’s a rocky time in the British
Virgin Islands.
The British overseas territory
in the Caribbean swore in a new
leader this past week after its
premier was charged in Miami
with conspiracy to commit drug
trafficking and money launder-
ing in a made-for-television nar-
cotics sting by the U.S. Drug En-
forcement Administration in-
volving undercover informants
and designer bags stuffed with
cash.
A blistering commission of in-
quiry last month led by a retired
British judge found that “almost
everywhere” in the territory “the
principles of good governance,
such as openness, transparency
and even the rule of law are
ignored.” And Britain is seriously
mulling one of the commission’s
core recommendations: Tempo-
rarily suspending parts of the
constitution and imposing direct
rule from London.
The proposal has drawn oppo-
sition in the islands — a popular
tourist destination and tax haven
with turquoise waters and a repu-
tation for financial secrecy — that
has rippled across the Caribbean,
posing a delicate challenge for
Britain amid a growing reckoning
over colonialism.
One opposition leader called
the proposal “fundamentally un-
democratic.” The Organization of
Eastern Caribbean States said it
was “ill-advised.” The Caribbean
Community, the Caribbean’s
main regional bloc, cast it as
“retrograde.” The prime minister
of Saint Vincent and the Grena-
dines chided it as “ridiculous.”
British Foreign Secretary Liz
Truss, who said the inquiry
showed “that substantial legisla-
tive and constitutional change is
required,” dispatched Amanda
Milling, a foreign office minister,
to the British Virgin Islands this
past week. She was greeted with
protests.
Natalio Wheatley, the country’s
new premier, told reporters that
their discussions were “construc-
tive, but frank and open.” He
acknowledged the “shortcom-
ings” and “serious problems”
highlighted by the commission of
inquiry, but said he did not be-
lieve direct rule is the solution.
He proposed a national unity
government with members from
all political parties to lead the
territory of 30,000.
“To be clear, I see the imple-
mentation of the recommenda-
tions as a path to achieving our
national renewal,” he said. “But
this can be done successfully
without resorting to direct rule.”
Milling said everyone she met
with agreed there needs to be
“significant changes.”
“Let’s be clear: The report high-
lighted significant concerns
around corruption, transparency
and accountability,” she said.
“There is no getting away from
this. Like many people have told
me — this isn’t a question of
whether something should be
done. It is a question of what is
done.”
The British Virgin Islands,
which lie miles from their more
populous U.S. counterparts, are
one of Britain’s 14 overseas terri-
tories. They have a Crown-ap-
pointed governor, who represents
the queen, and a national assem-
bly made up of elected politicians.
Britain is responsible for defense
and foreign policy. The assembly
handles much of the rest.
The inquiry was launched last
year by a former governor of the
British Virgin Islands amid alle-
gations of political corruption. Sir
Gary Hickinbottom’s more than
900-page report found that suc-
cessive governments have been
plagued by “parlous failings in
governance” that “have been pos-
itively endorsed and even encour-
aged.”
One of its main recommenda-
tions — made with “a heavy
heart” — was to partially suspend
the islands’ constitution and im-
pose a direct rule in which the
governor would temporarily take
over executive powers of the
elected officials with the aid of an
advisory council made up, in part,
of public servants from the terri-
tory.
The proposal comes amid a
reckoning over the legacies ofBritish colonialism, spurred in
part by the Black Lives Matter
movement and a scandal over the
Britain’s treatment of the Win-
drush generation. That’s fanned
long-bubbling republican senti-
ment in parts of the Caribbean
and calls for reparations for slav-
ery.
Barbados last year cast off the
queen as its head of state and
became a republic. During an
at-times turbulent royal visit this
year, Jamaican Prime Minister
Andrew Holness told Prince Wil-
liam and his wife, Catherine, the
Duchess of Cambridge, that it was
“moving on,” though it has not
done so yet.
The last British overseas terri-
tory to be subjected to direct rule
was Turks and Caicos in 2009,
after a commission of inquiry
found a “high probability of sys-
temic corruption in government.”Then, as now, the decision was
met with opposition. Then-pre-
mier Galmo Williams charged
that the country was being “in-
vaded and recolonized” by Brit-
ain.
But today’s broader appraisal
of the sins of the British Empire
adds a new complexity to the
decision.
“I think it’s an important sub-
text,” said Peter Clegg, a professor
of politics and international rela-
tions at the University of the West
of England Bristol. “The U.K.
would possibly think twice before
intervening, and even 15 years
ago, this certainly was a decision
that wasn’t taken lightly.”
British Virgin Islands Gover-
nor John Rankin published the
inquiry report in late April before
its planned release in June. He
said it was in the “overwhelming
public interest” and that hehoped it would quiet speculation
that it was tied to the arrest of
then-premier Andrew Fahie on
drug and money-laundering con-
spiracy charges.
The territory’s ports director
was also charged.
Federal prosecutors allege that
a DEA source posing as a member
of the Sinaloa cartel met the
director to discuss trafficking
thousands of kilos of cocaine
through the islands to the United
States.
Fahie’s lawyer said he plans to
plead not guilty, the Associated
Press reported. He has also
claimed immunity as a head of
government. The ports director
has invoked her right to remain
silent. Their lawyers did not re-
spond to requests for comment
Friday.
The affidavit alleges that the
ports director told the source thatFahie would probably join, say-
ing, “He’s a little crook some-
times.”
It alleges that Fahie, who on
more than one occasion sought
reassurance that the purported
drug trafficker was not an inform-
ant or a cop, agreed to help secure
the required licenses and to hide
the cocaine-filled boats in ex-
change for 12 percent of the total
value of sales in the United States.
Fahie was arrested in Miami on
a private jet after he inspected the
$700,000 cash-advance payment,
stuffed into designer bags, that he
was promised. He was granted
$500,000 bond this week.
The affidavit alleges that dur-
ing one of the instances Fahie was
“skittish,” the informant reas-
sured him by saying, “Well, first of
all, you’re not touching anything.”
“I will touch one thing: The
money,” Fahie allegedly replied.British Virgin Islands scandal poses a delicate situation
Direct rule from London
is on the table after
premier’s drug arrestGABRIELLA N. BAEZ/REUTERS
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