Afghan Supreme Court Backs Taliban On Public Executions After UN Condemns Move: 'Required By Our Religion'

Afghanistan's Supreme Court rejected the United Nations (UN) condemnation regarding the public execution of four murderers on Saturday. The Supreme Court spokesperson, Abdul Rahim Rashid, said “retribution” had been carried out based on the “clear and apparent orders” of the sharia (Islamic law), along with “reliable witnesses, and confessions by the murderers”.

On Friday, the executions were carried out at sports stadiums in front of large crowds in three western Afghan provinces – Badghis, Nimroz and Farah – which has brought the number to 10 men since the Taliban swept back to power in Afghanistan in 2021, according to an AFP tally.

Law and order form the core of the Taliban's hardline ideology, and public executions were a frequent practice during their first regime between 1996 and 2001.

According to the AFP report, Rashid rejected the UN human rights office’s condemnation of these executions as "fundamentally irreconcilable with human dignity and the right to life", calling the statement "unfair and surprising". He said that the men had “destroyed innocent lives£ and that their deaths were required by the religion, the sharia system, as well the public’s demand.

He further added that they are obliged to follow it and that no outsiders had the right to interfere in sharia law, religion and justice.  

Outrage Over Executions 

The UN expressed strong outrage over the executions of the four men, stating the highest number carried out in a single day since 2021 and said it was "appalled" by the development.

"We urge the de facto authorities in Afghanistan to place a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, with a view to ultimately abolishing it," it said on social media platform X.

Human Rights Watch condemned the executions as deeply disturbing, stating that they constitute serious violations of international human rights law.

While speaking to AFP, HRW Afghanistan researcher Fereshta Abbasi said, "This is a reminder for the international community, in particular the UN Human Rights Council, to immediately establish an independent accountability mechanism for Afghanistan so the perpetrators of these unlawful practices could be held accountable”.

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