UN expert calls on Taliban to abolish death penalty after public execution

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,”