Vice and virtue are two words to fear in Afghanistan

The Afghan Government has alarmed human rights groups by approving a plan to introduce a religious watchdog similarly named to the body the Taleban used to enforce its extremism.

The proposal to revive the Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which came from the country's Ulema council of clerics, has been passed by the Cabinet of President Hamid Karzai and will now go before the Afghan Parliament.

"Our concern is that the department doesn't turn into an instrument for politically oppressing critical voices and vulnerable groups under the guise of protecting virtues," said Human Rights Watch's Sam Zia Zarifi.

"This is specially in the case of women, because infringements on their rights tend to be justified by claims of morality."

Under the Taleban the then Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice became notorious for its brutal imposition of the Taleban's Islamic codes of behaviour.

Black turbaned religious police routinely beat those without long enough beards and those failing to attend prayers five times a day.

Widows suffered particular hardship because of the diktat that women be accompanied by a male relative when out of their homes, an impossibility for thousands of women widowed during decades of war.

The ministry was also charged with the imposition of the Taleban's interpretation of sharia punishment.

Executions in the centre circles of Kabul football stadiums - including burqa clad-women - did much to fuel the Taleban's international isolation.

However, the Minister for Haj and Religious Affairs Nematullah Shahrani defended the new body.

"The job of the department will be simply to tell people what is allowable and what is forbidden in Islam. In practical terms it will be quite different from Taleban times. We will reach the people through radio, television and special gatherings."

He denied that the new body would have police powers, but said it would oppose the proliferation of alcohol and drugs and speak out against terrorism. It would, he added, also encourage people to behave in more Islamic ways, with more modest dress for women and greater personal piety.

The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission described the proposal as "very concerning".

"It will remind people of the Taleban," a spokesman said. "We are worried that there are no clear terms of reference for this body."

Several Western Diplomats said they believed the move was partly designed to defuse Taleban propaganda against the "un-Islamic" Karzai Government and its Western allies.

"This is an Islamic republic and sharia is a part of the constitution," said one diplomat. "If it is constitutional and within the International Convention on Human Rights [Afghanistan is a signatory] then it could represent a public information victory for the Government."

With the Taleban making considerable gains in the south, the Karzai Government has been keen to establish a more conservative Islamic profile and to appear more critical of Western military operations.

Last month Karzai criticised the coalition offensive in the south, claiming: "It is not acceptable for us that in all this fighting, Afghans are dying. In the last three to four weeks, 500 to 600 Afghan were killed. [Even] if they are Taleban, they are sons of this land."

PURITY AND OBEDIENCE: THE RELIGIOUS WATCHDOGS

Then ...

The Taleban used the ministry to impose an extreme interpretation of Islamic codes of behaviour.

The feared black-turbaned religious police enforced the code, for example beating those whose beards were too short.

The ministry oversaw executions in Kabul football stadium for transgressions of sharia law.

Now ...

The Karzai Government says the body will not have police powers.

The department will oppose the proliferation of alcohol and drugs and speak out against terrorism, crime and corruption.

It will encourage people to behave in more Islamic ways, with more modest dress for women and greater personal piety.

Women in Kabul.

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