For the first time since their return to power in Afghanistan, the Taliban carried out a public execution on Wednesday of a man convicted of murder, just weeks after their supreme leader ordered them to apply Islamic law to the its most brutal aspects.
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“The Supreme Court was ordered to carry out this ‘qisas’ order during a public gathering of residents” in Farah (West), Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement. reference to the law of retaliation which appears in Islamic law.
The convict, named Tajmir, son of Ghulam Sarwar, was accused of murdering a man in 2017 and stealing his motorcycle and a cell phone, according to the Taliban statement.
“Later, this person was recognized by the heirs of the deceased”, indicates the same source. The man who resided in the district of Anjil, in the province of Herat, in western Afghanistan, admitted his guilt, assures the spokesman.
Dozens of court officials as well as Taliban officials witnessed the execution. The manner in which he died, however, has not been specified.
Under the first Taliban regime (1996-2001), the majority of convicts were shot or stoned, depending on the crimes charged.
The new leaders of the country assured that the case had been examined in depth by different courts (first instance, court of appeal, and supreme court), before their supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada endorsed the sentence.
“This matter has been examined very carefully,” the Taliban spokesman said.
In mid-November, Hibatullah Akhundzada had ordered judges to enforce all aspects of Islamic law, including public executions, stonings and floggings, and amputation of limbs for thieves.
“Carefully examine the files of thieves, kidnappers and seditious,” the Taliban spokesman said in a tweet, quoting Akhundzada.
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For “these files in which all the conditions of Sharia (…) have been met, you are obliged to apply” all the sanctions provided for, he continued.
“With this formal notice to apply what is written, Hibatullah Akhundzada recalls that the only law on earth is that of God and that men do not have to interpret it”, analyzes Karim Pakzad researcher at the Institute of international and strategic relations (Iris), interviewed by AFP.
While the Taliban today face resistance within the regime itself, “Sharia, which is the ideological basis of the movement, is a way of bringing people together and creating unity,” observes the researcher.
The Taliban have carried out several public floggings since taking power in August 2021, but Wednesday’s execution is the first they have acknowledged.
Social media has been flooded for more than a year with videos and photos of Taliban fighters inflicting street floggings on people accused of various offences.
There are also reports of floggings for adultery in rural areas after Friday prayers, but it is difficult to independently verify this.
Upon their return to power, the Taliban had promised to be more flexible in the application of sharia, but they have largely returned to the ultra-rigorous interpretation of Islam that had marked their first spell in power.
They then punished in public the perpetrators of theft, kidnapping or adultery, with penalties such as the amputation of a limb or stoning.
“These punishments are banned worldwide. It’s inhuman to see that,” Ogai Amil, an Afghan human rights activist, told AFP on Wednesday.