Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan, in a statement condemned a recent public execution carried out by the Taliban in Badghis, calling for an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty in the country.
“The death penalty is a cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment,” Bennett said. “It is irreversible, often applied unfairly, and fails to serve as an effective deterrent to crime.”
According to the Taliban, the execution was approved by the group’s supreme leader after being upheld by appellate and supreme courts under Taliban control. Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, at least 11 people have been publicly executed, according to UN figures.
Bennett warned that the use of the death penalty in Afghanistan is particularly concerning due to the lack of due process and judicial independence in the Taliban-controlled justice system.
“The application of the death penalty anywhere is deeply troubling,” he said. “In the context of Afghanistan, where the justice system lacks any semblance of independence or due process, it is especially alarming.”
He also criticized the public nature of the executions, saying they not only dehumanize the person being punished but traumatize communities forced to witness them.
“Under the Taliban, public executions and other cruel punishments are not only a horrifying form of violence, they are a deliberate tool used to control the population and instill fear,” Bennett said. “They must be unequivocally condemned.”
He urged the Taliban to halt all executions and impose an official moratorium as a critical step toward full abolition of capital punishment.
