December 16, 2022

Taliban authorities spread fear with public executions

topic:	Death Penalty
located:	Afghanistan
editor:	Shadi Khan Saif

In a desperate attempt to consolidate power through fear instead of winning the hearts of its citizens through service, Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have begun hanging and lashing accused convicts in public. News reports state that one man, who was accused of murder five years ago, was publicly executed at the hands of the victim’s father in front of an audience, which included several Taliban officials.

Justice is the collateral victim in such merciless executions as the accused individuals and the witnessing society is deprived of basic human rights and a fair trial. Afghanistan is undergoing one of the worst recorded humanitarian crises and is in need of aid and healing at the moment - not dreadful public executions and lashings.

While the Taliban busies themselves with inhumane practices, people are selling their children to deal with the rising poverty, mother and child mortality rates are higher than ever, children are suffering from malnutrition, and climate change-driven famine are widespread in the country. Citizens’ mental health is also tortured by the de facto authorities’ harsh rule.

Other aspects of Afghan society are in turmoil, as well. Young girls have been robbed of the opportunity to attend schools; female university attendance rates have reduced significantly due to extreme measures and limitations on women in the academic environment. The youth, both male and female, are confined with rules and regulations, and they are robbed of all their individual freedoms. Young boys are beaten in public and put into custody.

Authorities in Afghanistan are enforcing social order with guns and whips instead of deliberations and agreements. The only justification the Taliban are presenting for these extreme measures is the Islamic principles and the Sharia laws. Yet not all Muslim countries and scholars approve of what is happening in Afghanistan. There needs to be basic provisions and services available before thinking about such harsh punishments in public.

In this context, the Islamic world holds a much greater responsibility than many other international institutions to compel the Taliban in Afghanistan to stop the injustices. Institutions like the OIC, which is planning to resume operations in Kabul, need to stand with the oppressed people of Afghanistan. This erroneous interpretation of Islamic teachings risks harming the rest of the world’s Muslim population. 

For the sake of all citizens, It is the high time to stop the injustice in Afghanistan being labeled as Sharia.

Photo by Nasim Dadfar

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