In July, Taleban in Shinwari district, Parwan province, publicly executed a young woman called Najiba.
In August, Taleban stoned to death a couple,according to Mohammad Ayub, district governor of Imam Sahib, Kunduz.
In August, Taleban stoned to death a couple,according to Mohammad Ayub, district governor of Imam Sahib, Kunduz.
Afghan officials admit the Taleban dispenses “justice” in areas they control. Information provided by the AG’s Office (attorney general’s office), reveals at least 40 districts are outside government rule. Since early 2011, more than 10 people have been stoned to death, shot or beheaded on the orders of Taleban commanders.
A grisly video showing Najiba’s public execution has revived public memories of the mock courts under the Taleban regime. The Taleban claimed they were not responsible for her murder but a parliamentary delegation that probed the incident said Najiba was killed because of hostility between two Taleban commanders. There were spontaneous protests in many parts of the country calling for the arrest of her killers.
On Aug 26, President Hamid Karzai issued a statement condemning the incident in Mullah Quli village, calling it an “unforgivable crime”. Hundreds of people are reported to have participated in the public stoning of the young couple.
According to information, the two, who were betrothed, were arrested in the village for having illegal relations.
A year ago another case of death by stoning was reported from Pasaband district, in western Ghor province.
Zarmina, 22, was engaged to a man who was not interested in getting married. She terminated that relationship, and was engaged to a married man, Ahmad Wali, 31. Scared of the Taleban they fled the area.On the assurance of some village elders, they returned home to get married. The two were immediately arrested by the Taleban, and stoned to death.
No trials
Killid has photos taken from a mobile phone of another public execution by the Taleban in Shirjah village, Shahrak district of Ghor province. The photos are of an unidentified man in white being killed by people related to Mullah Mustafa (an anti-government commander). The man was allowed to say his prayers before two men shot him dead.
Abdul Hai Khatibi, the spokesman for the governor of Ghor, says the Taleban and other armed groups have held mobile courts called “desert courts” in three districts of the province: Pasaband, Teewara and Charsadda. Recently two men and two women were stoned to death on the charge of illegal relations in the centre of the province, he said.
Mawlawi Ahmad, a religious scientist in Herat, says mock courts like these are “totally against Islam and humanity”. He explains, “Islam insists strongly on the availability of the witness and a just trial under the law.”
There are reports of six executions of “government informers” by the Taleban in the first six months of this year from Khash Rod district, in southwestern Nimroz province. Mohammad Hashem Noorzaei, the district governor of Khash Rod, says the public killings were in areas under Taleban control. The governor claims there were protests against the Taleban after the killings.
Nearly everywhere the Taleban have emerged the government’s writ has vanished. The sole exception may be Farah province. According to the deputy provincial governor, Mohammad Younus Rasooli, the government has failed to establish courts in nine districts. People in Balablok, Bakwa and Khaki Safed districts have resolved their legal problems through informal courts under the Taleban.
What ails the justice system in Herat?
Fatima Jafari, member of the Herat Provincial Council says widespread corruption has destroyed people’s faith in the fairness of the judiciary in the province. “Lack of adequate staff and justice mechanisms in remote districts like Shindand and Keshk Kohna districts are others problems,” she adds. Fear of the Taleban is also a reason. “Unfortunately, the people in insecure districts don’t dare to resolve their legal problems through government courts because they could be punished by the Taleban,” she admits.
Court officials, particularly in urban areas, deny the justice system is flawed in Herat. Judge Sher Aqa Munib, in court number one of the first district, Herat city, says more than 500 criminals were tried and convictedso far this year. He says courts are active in all but two districts in the province. “People can resolve their legal and criminal cases through government courts,” he adds.
Maria Bashir, the head of appeal, AG’s Office in Herat,believes poor salaries are at the root of the poor justice delivery system. The unattractive levels of pay for attorney general and judge makes it difficult to hire professional staff, she says.
AIHRC (Afghanistan Human Rights Independent Commission) has expressed concern over mock courts, particularly in the country’s west. Mohammad Musa Mahmoodi, the executive director of AIHRC, says, “Nobody has the right to accuse a person of a crime unless the charges have been investigated by legal institutions.” According to Mahmoodi, the AIHRC has documented 75 “willful murders” this year, most of them of women and young. These are cases where only the body of the victim was found and there is no other information.
Yusuf Ahmadi, aspokesman for the Taleban, told Killid over the phone their courts were “religiously” sanctioned. “They (courts) decide through local council and punish the criminal for the crime. … They have tried and punished a number of 50 people through local courts this year.”
