The Taliban executed an alleged murderer in front of the public for the first time in Afghanistan since the Islamist group regained control on Wednesday.
According to the Taliban’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, the guy was executed in southwest Farah province in front of senior Taliban officials by the father of his purported victim, who shot him three times. The man was charged with killing the victim with a knife in 2017 and robbing a bicycle and cell phone.
The announcement comes shortly after the Taliban instructed judges to fully implement their interpretation of Sharia law, which included public executions, amputations, and floggings. This action has stoked concerns that the situation with respect to human rights in the impoverished nation will only get worse.
It is the first public execution since the Taliban took control of Kabul when US soldiers left the nation in August 2021. During the Taliban’s prior administration, which lasted from 1996 to 2001, public killings and other harsh penalties were commonplace.
The mother of the victim told state-run media agency RTA Pashto that the family had turned down several requests to forgive the alleged killer.
“We said that if we forgive him and he gets released, he would go out and kill someone else’s son. We wanted his punishment to be death so that it could be a lesson for others like him,” she said.
The acting chief justice, deputy prime minister, acting interior minister, and deputy governor of Farah province were among the senior Taliban leaders present at the execution.
In a tweet, UNAMA stated that it “strongly condemns the death penalty in all circumstances and calls on de facto authorities to declare an immediate moratorium with a view to abolishing the death penalty.”
One of the foremost experts on Sharia law in the world and UCLA professor Kaheld Abou El Fadl said to CNN in November that throughout the 1,400-year history of Sharia, punishments like public executions had historically been infrequently carried out because most Islamic jurists interpreted the law differently than the Taliban.
The Taliban first tried to present a more moderate image after seizing control last August in an effort to win over the world. However, since then, it has tightened restrictions on liberties and rights.
Afghanistan has forbidden females from returning to secondary school, and women are no longer allowed to work in the majority of industries or travel great distances without the supervision of a male guardian. In addition, women have been prevented from entering parks.
