RASC News Agency: Three years into the Taliban’s rule over Afghanistan, the group has carried out numerous extrajudicial executions in the absence of formal legal procedures. The most recent instance involves a woman in Balkh Province who was sentenced to death by stoning. The handling of her case by the Taliban’s preliminary court in the Sholgara district of Balkh underscores the complete absence of fair judicial principles within their legal system.
While the Taliban profess to uphold Islamic Sharia, justice, and societal order, their courts ignore even the most basic principles of a fair trial. The Taliban’s treatment of defendants not only contravenes human dignity and Islamic values but also starkly contradicts international human rights standards. Furthermore, the role of the prosecution has been severely curtailed under Taliban rule. Currently, Taliban judges not only render verdicts but also oversee the prosecution and often participate in investigations, rendering access to justice nearly impossible.
The Attorney General’s Office, which had previously released hundreds of detainees arrested by Taliban intelligence on ethnic grounds primarily Panjshiri Tajiks has seen its responsibilities taken over directly by Taliban intelligence. This group, unbound by any legal norms, exhibits extreme behavior towards detainees, particularly those from non-Pashtun ethnic backgrounds who may not be familiar with the group’s language, often subjecting them to severe torture and execution.
The Taliban’s intelligence and judicial bodies operate with a wholly ethnocentric and ideological bias, prosecuting anyone who opposes their ideology. Recently, the Minister of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice declared that criticism of the Taliban would be met with severe punishment, framing adherence to their archaic and ethnocentric decrees as a “duty.” This stance contrasts sharply with early Islamic principles, where criticism of rulers and their unjust practices was not considered a crime. However, under the Taliban’s non-Islamic regime, any criticism of their inhumane and ethnocentric practices is deemed a criminal offense.
