In May 2023, the de facto Deputy Chief Justice of Afghanistan announced that courts across the country had sentenced 175 individuals to Qisas (retribution in kind) punishments and 37 to stoning. Other sentences included physical punishments such as flogging and burying under a wall. The de facto Deputy Chief Justice did not specify a timeline for implementation of these sentences. The announcement was met with international condemnation, including from the United Nations experts who indicated that many of the punishments constitute torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment and are contrary to international law. Both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT), to which Afghanistan is a State party, prohibit torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.
The announcement of the inhumane punishments followed the significant deterioration of human rights in Afghanistan as a result of the Taliban taking over power in Afghanistan in August 2021. Subsequent months have seen severe restrictions on the rights of women and girls, religious or belief minorities, and much more. In February 2023, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, indicated that “increasingly, the Taliban is ruling Afghanistan through fear and repressive policies aimed at suppressing communities, and women in particular. Inclusiveness is negligible; there is very little tolerance for difference, and none for dissent.” As he reported, individuals were given between 20 and 100 lashes for alleged crimes, including theft, illegitimate relationships or violating codes of social behaviour. On December 7, 2022, the Taliban publicly executed a man in the city of Farah. It is said to be the first public execution since it seized power in August 2021.
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