Surprise surprise the Taliban appear unlikely to protect women’s rights. You don’t say.

Taliban guarantees that women and girls will be able to study and work under their rule have been thrown into doubt after one of their leaders said that the decision would be left to a council of Islamic scholars.

“Thrown into doubt” – who believed them in the first place? Don’t be silly. They included the proviso “as long as/to the extent that they are compatible with sharia.” Sharia is not a human rights respecting system of laws. Sharia perceives women as inferior and as constantly on the verge of spreading their legs for any man who approaches.

“Our scholars will decide whether girls are allowed to go to school or not,” Waheedullah Hashimi, a senior Taliban leader said, less than 24 hours after the group held its first press conference and promised that women would be allowed to work and study.

But they didn’t promise that, they included the “if sharia” bit, at least in all the reporting I saw.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the previously unknown spokesman who chaired the Taliban’s first press conference as the de facto leaders of Afghanistan, had sought to present a more moderate face to the world than that of the regime that ruled with an iron fist from 1996-2001.

Mujahid vowed that the Islamic Emirate, the Taliban’s name for their nascent administration, would “respect the rights of women” before adding the caveat “within the framework of Islamic law”.

Exactly – so what did you think that meant? We already know how they interpret “within the framework of Islamic law.”

He said that women would be allowed to work “with different areas like health and education” but he would not be drawn on whether they would be allowed in public life or leadership positions.

So what did you think that meant?

Hashimi also said the ulema, or council of scholars, would decide what women would be required to wear. “They will decide whether they should wear hijab, burqa, or only a veil plus abaya or something, or not,” he said. “That is up to them.”

That is, up to the council of male religious fanatics, not of course up to the women. The male religious fanatics think women are all ravenous whores who want to fuck every male animal on the planet. There’s no ambiguity in any of this.

Yesterday the International Criminal Court (ICC) sent a shot across the Taliban’s bow, reminding them of the investigation into war crimes in Afghanistan opened last year. The statement amounted to a warning to the Taliban that its leaders could end up in the dock at the Hague.

Karim Khan, the ICC chief prosecutor, endorsed the UN security council’s assessment that there were credible allegations of war crimes in the course of the Taliban’s military offensive.

“These reports include allegations of extrajudicial executions in the form of revenge killings of detainees and individuals who surrendered, persecution of women and girls, crimes against children and other crimes affecting the civilian population at large,” he said.

Khan warned that the court “may exercise its jurisdiction over and investigate any act of genocide, crime against humanity or war crime committed within the territory of Afghanistan since May 1, 2003”.

But can they get any actual Taliban criminals to the Hague? I wouldn’t think so, but I don’t know everything.