On October 22, 2025, the UN Unique Rapporteur on the scenario of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, released a declaration condemning the current public execution in Afghanistan and contacting the de facto authorities to instantly enforce a moratorium and eliminate using the capital punishment. The declaration follows the de facto Supreme Court of Afghanistan revealing on October 16 that a guy had actually been openly performed in a sports arena in Badghis province after being founded guilty of murder. A minimum of 11 individuals have actually been openly performed because the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, with half of them in 2025. UN Unique Rapporteur Richard Bennett worried: “The application of the capital punishment anywhere is deeply uncomfortable. In the context of Afghanistan, where the Taliban-controlled justice system does not have any form of self-reliance or due procedure, it is specifically disconcerting.”
Making use of public executions shows a wider pattern of human rights wear and tear in Afghanistan. The Taliban takeover in August 2021 was followed by reports of gross human rights infractions, consisting of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, abuse, attacks on reporters and human rights protectors, gender persecution and gender apartheid, and far more. The extreme limitations on human rights are to guarantee that there is no feasible opposition to the Taliban, and their reign might continue unabated. The Taliban likewise took apart the independent legal system and changed it with a de facto system that flagrantly breaks worldwide requirements. Apart from the particular targeting of lawyers, the entire legal system in Afghanistan is collapsing. As reported by the UN specialists in 2023, “There are no standardized treatments or substantive statutes in criminal or civil matters that cops, judges, or attorneys can follow. (…) Some specialized courts, consisting of those committed to managing sexual and gender-based violence, have actually been liquified. (…) Laws and guidelines worrying the legal treatment, judicial consultation, and treatments for reasonable trials, which were carried out by the previous federal government, were suspended. (…) Judicial self-reliance has actually been eliminated, as spiritual scholars have actually changed judges. Secret de facto judicial positions have actually been filled mostly by Taliban members with standard spiritual education, instead of legal specialists.”
The general public executions contribute to the intensity of the scenario in the nation and are indicated to spread out worry amongst individuals. The year 2025 has actually seen a substantial boost in such executions. Undoubtedly, on April 11, 2025, Afghanistan’s de facto Supreme Court revealed that 4 males had actually been openly performed as part of the Taliban’s Qisas (retribution in kind– in recommendation to spiritual law), penalties in Badghis (2 ), Farah (1) and Nimroz (1) provinces.
Talking about the executions in Afghanistan, UN Unique Rapporteur Richard Bennett repeated issues about the general public nature of executions in Afghanistan, which not just dehumanize the founded guilty person however likewise the society required to witness them: “Under the Taliban, public executions and other harsh penalties are not just a scary type of violence, they are a purposeful tool utilized to manage the population and impart worry. They need to be unquestionably condemned.” UN Unique Rapporteur Richard Bennett hired the de facto authorities in Afghanistan to instantly stop all executions and develop a moratorium on using the capital punishment, as a vital primary step towards its complete abolition.
In addition to public executions, because the Taliban takeover of August 2021, the de facto authorities have actually likewise reestablished floggings and other types of corporal penalty, in infraction of worldwide human rights law. They are typically enforced in cases of supposed sodomy, “illegal relationships” and other acts considered by the Taliban as criminal offenses. In 2025, more than 200 such penalties have actually been performed because the start of 2025.
The alarming scenario in Afghanistan will continue as the world disregards. The gross infractions of human rights committed by the Taliban need thorough reactions, consisting of justice and responsibility, at the domestic, local and worldwide level.
Source: Forbes.
