Public Outcry as Taliban Executes Two Men in Ghazni Province
In a deeply disturbing turn of events, the Taliban carried out a public execution on Thursday in Afghanistan’s southeastern Ghazni province, sparking outrage from human rights groups and international leaders. Thousands witnessed the grim scene unfold in broad daylight at a stadium in the Ali Lala area, as two men were executed by gunfire.
The Taliban-led Supreme Court had convicted Syed Jamal from central Wardak province and Gul Khan from Ghazni of murder by stabbing. However, the court did not provide clarity on who carried out the stabbings, leaving lingering questions.
The executions commenced shortly before 1 pm, with at least 15 bullets fired as a sizable crowd gathered to witness the macabre event, according to local officials. Shockingly, relatives of the victims were reportedly asked to carry out the execution using guns, though the specific type of firearms used was not disclosed by Abu Abu Khalid Sarhadi, a spokesman for Ghazni police.
Supreme Court spokesperson Abdul Rahim Rashid revealed that the men were shot from behind after court official Atiqullah Darwish read aloud a death warrant signed by Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. Ambulances were later dispatched to remove their bodies from the scene.
Despite pleas from local religious scholars urging forgiveness and a halt to the execution, the victims’ relatives remained steadfast in their decision to proceed.
A statement from the department of culture and information of Ghazni province asserted that the execution was ordered by three lower courts and Supreme Leader Akhundzada as retribution for the alleged crimes.
These latest public executions, the third and fourth since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, occurred nearly 10 months after the de facto rulers ordered the execution of a man found guilty of five murders in 2022.
The international community, human rights groups, and leaders have swiftly condemned the Taliban’s orders for public executions. Livia Saccardi, Amnesty International’s interim deputy regional director for South Asia, strongly opposed the actions, labeling them as a violation of the right to life and an affront to human dignity.
Saccardi urged the Taliban’s de-facto authorities to immediately halt all executions and called for the abolition of the death penalty and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishments. She emphasized the dehumanizing and brutalizing effects of public executions, highlighting the serious concerns surrounding the protection of the right to a fair trial under the Taliban’s de facto authority.
Former member of parliament Mariam Solaimankhil, from the Ashraf Ghani administration, expressed concern about the lack of due process in such executions, questioning the ability of Afghans to report corruption and abuses by the Taliban under these circumstances. The alarming rise of public executions raises significant questions about the Taliban’s approach to justice and the impact on the rights and perceptions of the Afghan people.