Home Latest News Executions, Amputations to Resume in Afghanistan, Claims Taliban Prisons Chief

Executions, Amputations to Resume in Afghanistan, Claims Taliban Prisons Chief

by Staff Report

File Photo. Asif Hassan—AFP

In interview with news agency, Mullah Turabi claims harsh punishments necessary for security

Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, head of prisons in the incumbent Taliban regime, has said that harsh regressive punishments such as executions and amputations will resume in Afghanistan but may not occur in public, as they had in the past.

“Everyone criticized us for the punishments in the stadium, but we have never said anything about their laws and their punishments,” he told The Associated Press from Kabul, referring to global outrage over executions in front of crowds of thousands during the Taliban’s previous rule. “No one will tell us what our laws should be. We will follow Islam and we will make our laws on the Quran,” he said, adding that cutting off hands was “very necessary” for security.

Turabi’s comments suggest that global concerns over the Taliban recreating their harsh rule of the late 1990s are not entirely unfounded—even if the Taliban leadership continues to claim it is now adopting a “milder” rule that will adhere to human rights.

The prisons chief stressed that unlike the past, cases would be adjudicated by judges—not clerics—but the foundation of all laws would be the Quran. “We are changed from the past,” he said, adding that television, mobile phones, photos and videos would be permitted as they are now a “necessity” for the people.

According to the AP, Turabi noted the mass reach of media to spread the Taliban’s message. “Now we know instead of reaching just hundreds, we can reach millions,” he said, adding that if punishments are meted out in public, people might be allowed to video or photograph them to boost the “deterrent” effect. He emphasized that the implementation of these measures had succeeded in bringing stability to Afghanistan in the past. “We had complete safety in every part of the country,” he claimed of the 1990s.

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