UK Envoy Urges Taliban To Repeal Controversial Penal Code
The UK’s special envoy for Afghanistan says the Taliban’s panel code should be repealed, echoing UN concerns that it undermines human rights protections in the country.
The UK’s special envoy for Afghanistan says the Taliban’s panel code should be repealed, echoing UN concerns that it undermines human rights protections in the country.
Richard Lindsay, sharing a post of Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, on social platform X said that human rights must be upheld for all Afghan citizens.
Lindsay wrote that the concerns raised by UN experts about the decree are serious.
UN experts say Decree No. 12, issued by Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, contradicts Afghanistan’s international obligations on human rights, judicial independence and fair trials.
The decree, titled “Criminal Principles for Courts”, was signed in early January and came into force days later.
Richard Bennett had earlier said on X that the decree could further erode human rights protections in Afghanistan and should therefore be withdrawn.
UN experts say the text was issued without a clear legislative process, makes no reference to Afghanistan’s constitution, and lacks transparency about how it was approved.
Much of the concern centers on provisions relating to women.
According to UN experts, Article 32 of the decree states that violence against women is punishable only if it results in fractures, wounds or visible bruising. Even then, the woman must prove her claim in court, and punishment for the husband is limited to 15 days in prison.
Article 34 allows a husband to punish his wife if she leaves home without his permission or without what the text calls a “religious justification”. It also provides for up to three months’ imprisonment for her relatives if they fail to return her to her husband following a court order.
The decree has faced widespread criticism since its early weeks.
Human rights organisations say it legitimises violence against women and children and criminalises criticism of Taliban leadership and policies.
In response, the Taliban’s justice ministry has said that opposing the group’s laws amounts to opposing Islamic law and is considered a crime.
