Taliban authorities in eastern Afghanistan are scheduled to publicly execute a convicted murderer on Wednesday, citing the Islamic concept of retributive justice, or qisas.
The early morning punishment will be carried out at a sports stadium in Gardez, the capital of the Paktia province, according to a local language official announcement Tuesday through the X social media platform. It invited the public, religious scholars, and civilian and military officials to attend the event, instructing them not to bring cameras or cell phones.
If the death penalty is implemented as scheduled, it will be the sixth public execution of a murder convict in Afghanistan since the Taliban regained power in August 2021 and implemented a criminal justice system based on their interpretation of Islamic law, Sharia. The announcement did not specify how the execution will be implemented.
Previously, such executions were carried out by gunshot.
Despite the United Nations condemning the practice as “inconsistent with the fundamental right to life” and "a form of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment," de facto Afghan leaders continue to carry out these executions.
The Taliban also have flogged hundreds of men and women in packed sports stadiums across Afghanistan for committing “immoral crimes," such as adultery, homosexuality, theft, and robbery. In October alone, nearly 100 Afghans, including women, were lashed in front of onlookers and received jail terms ranging from six months to two years for such offenses, according to the Taliban Supreme Court data.
U.N. experts and human rights organizations have decried corporal punishment as a breach of human rights and international law, urging the Taliban to stop it immediately.
Women’s rights in Afghanistan have declined sharply under the Taliban rule, according to U.N. assessments. They cite a series of decrees and directives issued by Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, which are designed to “systematically” exclude women from public life in nearly every sector.
The edicts have banned Afghan girls and young women from pursuing secondary and university-level education. Women are banned from public and private workplaces with exceptions for health, immigration, and police departments.
A recent decree has deemed the sound of women’s voices in public a moral violation and requires them to cover their entire bodies and faces when outdoors. It also forbids women from looking at men to whom they are not related and vice versa.
The Taliban have defended their Islamic governance and rejected international calls to reverse restrictions on Afghan women’s freedom. No country has officially recognized Taliban leaders as legitimate rulers of Afghanistan.
