Taliban set to return to sharia law public executions
AFGHANISTAN’S supreme leader has ordered judges to fully enforce aspects of Islamic law that include public executions, stonings and floggings, and the amputation of limbs for thieves, the Taliban’s chief spokesperson said.
Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted on Sunday that the “obligatory” command by Hibatullah Akhundzada came after the secretive leader met judges.
Akhundzada, who has not been filmed or photographed in public since the Taliban returned to power in August last year, rules by decree from Kandahar, the movement’s birthplace and spiritual heartland.
The Taliban promised a softer version of the harsh rule that characterised its first stint in power, from 1996-2001, but has gradually clamped down on rights and freedoms.
“Carefully examine the files of thieves, kidnappers and seditionists,” Mujahid quoted Akhundzada as saying. “Those files in which all the sharia (Islamic law) conditions of hudud and qisas have been fulfilled, you are obliged to implement.
“This is the ruling of sharia, and my command, which is obligatory.”
Hudud refers to offences which, under Islamic law, certain types of punishment are mandated, while qisas translates as “retaliation in kind”, effectively an eye for an eye.
Hudud crimes include adultery – and falsely accusing someone of it – drinking alcohol, theft, kidnapping and highway robbery, apostasy and rebellion. Qisas covers murder and deliberate injury, but also allows for the families of victims to accept compensation in lieu of punishment.
Islamic scholars say crimes leading to hudud punishment require a very high degree of proof, including – in the case of adultery – confession, or being witnessed by four adult male Muslims.
Social media has been awash for more than a year – and even recently – with videos and pictures of Taliban fighters meting out summary floggings to people accused of various offences.
The Taliban has also several times displayed in public the bodies of kidnappers it said were killed in shootouts. There have also been reports of adulterers being flogged in rural areas after Friday prayers.
Rahima Popalzai, a legal and political analyst, said the edict could be an attempt by the Taliban to harden its reputation. “If they start to implement hudud and qisas, they will be aiming to create the fear society has gradually lost. As a theocratic setup, the Taliban wants to strengthen its religious identity among Muslim countries.”
Women have seen hard-won rights evaporate in the past 15 months, and they are increasingly being squeezed out of public life. Most female government workers have lost their jobs, or are being paid a pittance to stay at home, while women are also barred from travelling without a male relative and must cover up with a burqa or hijab when out of the home. In the past week, the Taliban also banned women from entering parks, funfairs, gyms or public baths. During its first rule, the Taliban regularly carried out punishments in public, including floggings and executions.