WAKIL KOHSAR / AFP
The supreme leader of the Taliban on Saturday urged Afghans to observe Islamic law imposed by his government, to date recognized by no country, while calling “all nations” to reestablish their links with Kabul.
In a rare message written on the occasion of Eid el-Fitr which will mark the end of Ramadan next week, Emir Hibatullah Akhundzada believes that “Injustice and the rejection of Sharia law”Islamic law of which the Taliban impose an ultra-rigorous version, “lead to insecurity”.
The emir, who lives secluded in Kandahar (south) while the government sits in Kabul, also assured “want diplomatic and economic relations with all nations” while the international community has cut ties with the Afghan authorities since the Taliban took power in August 2021.
Their government has increased repressive measures against women, a policy described as“gender apartheid” by the UN which points out that Afghanistan is now the only country in the world where the education of girls is prohibited after primary school.
Whippings and stonings
In January, an audio recording attributed to the emir emerged in which he promised to reinstate punishments practiced under the first Taliban government from 1996 to 2001 – such as public whippings and stonings of women convicted of adultery, who had sparked outrage across the world.
This recording, which the authorities do not comment on, has been shared numerous times in recent weeks, while the spokesperson for the Taliban government recently explained to local media that stoning was enshrined in Sharia law and could be imposed again. “if the conditions were right for that”.
Public executions, commonplace during the first reign of the Taliban, are now rare. Corporal punishments, on the other hand, are legion, particularly whippings, notably to punish theft, adultery or the consumption of alcohol.
On Wednesday, five men and a woman accused of“adultery” and of “sodomy” were flogged in public in the eastern province of Logar, according to the Supreme Court.