Public Executions in Afghanistan: The Taliban’s Brutal Display of Power

2024-02-26 13:10:00
This screenshot from a video taken on February 22, 2024, shows Afghan men leaving a football stadium following attending the public execution by Taliban authorities of two men convicted of murder, in Ghazni. (AFP)

The Taliban on Monday carried out the public execution of a man convicted of murder in northern Afghanistan before thousands of people at a sports stadium, the third such death sentence carried out in the last five days.

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The execution took place with great spectacle in the city of Shibirghan, capital of the northern province of Jawzjan, where the brother of the murdered man shot the prisoner five times with a rifle, according to an eyewitness. Security around the stadium was tight, said the witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

It was also the fifth public execution since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in August 2021, when US and NATO troops were in the final weeks of their withdrawal from the country following two decades of war.

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The event was ominous as the Taliban, despite initial promises of a more moderate government, began carrying out severe public punishments (executions, floggings and stonings) shortly following coming to power, applying the “eye for an eye” rule. ”, which rewards the criminal with the same damage caused. The punishments are similar to those meted out under Afghanistan’s previous government in the late 1990s.

Taliban government officials were not immediately available for comment.

The United Nations has sharply criticized the Taliban for carrying out public executions. Europa Press/Contact/Saifurahman Safi

The statement said Monday’s death sentence was carried out following approval by three of the country’s highest courts and Taliban supreme leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada. The executed man, identified as Nazar Mohammad from Bilcheragh district in Faryab province, had killed Khal Mohammad, also from Faryab. The murder took place in Jawzjan.

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On Thursday, in the southeastern province of Ghazni, the Taliban executed two men convicted of stabbing their victims to death. He identified them as Syed Jamal, from the central province of Wardak, and Gul Khan, from Ghazni, although it was not clear who carried out the stabbings, the two convicted men or others.

The statement also said that three lower courts and the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, had ordered the executions in retaliation for their alleged crimes. The victims’ relatives shot the two men, also in a sports stadium while thousands of people watched.

Separate statements from the Taliban supreme court said a man and woman convicted of adultery were lashed with 35 lashes each in the northern province of Balkh over the weekend. Two other people were flogged in the eastern province of Laghman, also over the weekend; each received 30 lashes for allegedly committing immoral acts.

The United Nations has sharply criticized the Taliban for carrying out public executions, floggings and stonings since they took power, and has called on the country’s rulers to end such practices.

(with information from AP)

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