Martine van Bijlert - HOW THE EMIRATE WANTS TO BE PERCEIVED:

After stressing that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) “supports the freedom of speech and journalists within the framework of Islamic principles,” the head of the Prime Minister’s Office elaborated on the expected role of the media: We know that the media is a bridge between the government and the nation; through the media, the voices of the nation reach the government and the words of the. [...] The ministry that did this most clearly, embodying the difference between the Islamic Emirate and the Islamic Republic, was the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue, Prevention of Vice and Hearing of Complaints.6 The way the Ministry of Virtue and Vice sees its position within the government and the wider world was described by its deputy minister for military affairs: If we look at the philosophy. [...] The ministry’s presentation provided an overview of the religious framework, the focus and the practical structure of the ministry, which was based on the Islamic concept of the rights of God and the rights of man – as explained by the ministry’s spokesman: 6 A state institution to promote virtue and prevent vice was first set up early in the twentieth century, when a Directorate of Ihtisab (Islam. [...] This seems to point to the ongoing influence of the military origins of the administration, with seemingly the whole of government within the purview of the military courts.8 The virtue and vice ministry spokesperson reported that, at the time of the session, 10,875 complaints had been sent to the complaints department through official 8 Similarly, the administration still refers to those who were. [...] The Ministry of National Defence reported on the (re)registration and streamlining of the defence forces, which had involved the inclusion of 170,000 Taleban fighters (mujahedin) into the ministry’s ranks: We reviewed the ministry’s tashkil and revised its duties, prepared, edited and distributed the registration form for the inclusion of employees into the ranks of the National Islamic Army.