Several residents in Lal wa Sarjangal district of Ghor province are complaining about the Taliban’s Morality Police, saying that this group continuously creates problems for residents of this district and resorts to harassment and even the arrest of people. According to them, the continuation of this situation has made life difficult for the people, and many Taliban Morality Police members arrest and suppress people for their absence from congregational prayers. All residents of this district are Shiite Muslims and belong to the Hazara ethnic group.
Residents of some villages in Lal wa Sarjangal district of Ghor province are complaining about the continued suppression and increasing pressure from the Taliban Morality Police in this district. They say that the Taliban Morality Police, under various pretexts, harass people and impose religious pressures on them. According to residents, the continuation of this trend has seriously threatened their religious freedoms.
A resident of the center of Lal wa Sarjangal district, who asked for anonymity in this report, said: “On Thursday morning last week, at around 3:00 a.m., the Taliban’s Morality Police went to the villages of Sarsaqaba and inspected the Husseiniyas of these villages.”
According to him, after the Taliban Morality Police observed that several people were asleep and had not attended congregational prayers, they compiled a list of these individuals and summoned them to their office.
This resident of Lal wa Sarjangal district claims that the Taliban Morality Police sentenced some of these individuals to one week in detention. According to him, another group, whose Husseiniyas had only missed the morning congregational prayer but held it at the two other prayer times, were held in detention for 48 hours.
Another resident of this district said: “On Friday, they also detained 12 people from Joy Badal and 15 people from another village for 24 hours. Among those detained were elders, the elderly, patients, and even teachers.”
This resident of Lal district emphasized that most of the people held in temporary detention by the Taliban Morality Police regularly perform their five daily prayers, and that even muezzins were among those detained.
Another resident of Lal district, who did not want his name mentioned in this report, said: “Haji Shirali Etemadi, a teacher and head of the Saman al-A’imma Islamic seminary in Lal, condemned the detention of these individuals and the denial of freedoms to devout and faithful people during his Friday sermon on July 24, at the mosque in Shahrak-e Muhajirin, and stated that this approach was neither reasonable nor appropriate for the propagation of virtue. After the congregational prayer ended, he was summoned to their office and interrogated.”
Residents of Lal wa Sarjangal district consider this Taliban action to be far from rational and out of touch with the realities of society, and emphasize that the actions of the Taliban Morality Police for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice have led to the harassment of Shiites. According to them, the continuation of this situation is concerning and has threatened the religious and social freedoms of the people.
Previously, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) stated in a report that the Taliban have hired 3,300 Morality Police members in only 28 provinces, meaning that on average 118 Morality Police members are active in each province. According to UNAMA, these individuals also have the authority to detain individuals temporarily and refer cases to Taliban-affiliated courts.
The UNAMA report states that the Law for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has imposed restrictions on men in various areas, including hairstyle, beard length, attendance at congregational prayers, and other matters, which have affected their lives. According to UNAMA, more than half of the arbitrary detentions resulting from the enforcement of this law relate to men’s appearance, particularly those whose beard length did not meet Taliban standards or who had “unauthorized” hairstyles.
All international human rights bodies, and even the United Nations Security Council, have repeatedly called for the immediate and unconditional repeal of the Taliban’s Law for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, as well as other policies and practices that restrict human rights in Afghanistan.
Additionally, the United States Department of State’s annual International Religious Freedom Report for 2025 on Afghanistan expressed concern over the Taliban’s continued extensive restrictions on religious freedoms and the group’s strict interpretation of religion. The report states that through the enforcement of the Law for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice and other religious policies, the Taliban have imposed numerous restrictions on citizens’ lives, including in matters of dress, appearance, attendance at congregational prayers, and social behavior. The report also refers to arbitrary detentions of individuals for failing to comply with standards set by the Taliban, and describes the situation of Hazara Shiites and other religious minorities as concerning. According to the report, the Taliban’s approach in enforcing an exclusive interpretation of religion has severely restricted the space for religious freedom and the basic rights of citizens in Afghanistan.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
زیر سایه چپنسفیدها؛ باشندهگان لعل و سرجنگل از فشار محتسبان طالبان به ستوه آمدهاند
