Abdul Hakim Haqqani, the Taliban chief justice, warned during a visit to northern Afghanistan that “a system built on oppression cannot survive”, urging Taliban officials to avoid abusing prisoners and detainees.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Taliban Supreme Court said Haqqani had travelled to the provinces of Kunduz, Badakhshan, Balkh, Jawzjan and Baghlan.
According to the statement, he told local Taliban officials they should be grateful because “an Islamic system rules the country and there is no foreign interference”.
Haqqani specifically addressed the treatment of prisoners and suspects, saying: “No one has the right to punish a criminal arbitrarily. Criminals and prisoners must be treated well.”
He added that “any form of oppression, abuse and inappropriate treatment of prisoners and criminals is unacceptable and must be avoided”.
Addressing Taliban forces, the senior official said: “Try not to oppress anyone, because a system that commits oppression will not endure.”
Haqqani is one of the founders of the Taliban movement and among the group’s most influential figures.
His remarks come despite widespread accusations against the Taliban administration of conducting desert courts, carrying out revenge killings, summary executions, torture and mistreatment of detainees.
Reports by international organisations, including the United Nations, have documented the killing, torture and disappearance of hundreds of former Afghan security personnel, the execution of suspected Islamic State Khorasan Province members without trial, and deaths of political detainees under torture in prison.
This is not the first time a senior Taliban official has warned about abuses committed by Taliban forces.
Previously, Sirajuddin Haqqani also said that “a system cannot survive through oppression”.
Abdul Hakim Haqqani himself is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity.
The Taliban leader and chief justice are under investigation over their alleged role in systematic persecution based on gender and policies targeting women, girls and other groups in Afghanistan.
Mohammad Mohaqiq, leader of the People’s Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan, said the Taliban have stripped the Jaafari jurisprudence of official recognition and imposed widespread pressure on the religious practices of Shia Muslims.
In a post on Facebook, Mohaqiq said the measures included insults, beatings of Shia clerics and interference in matters related to personal status laws and religious affairs.
He described the actions as contributing to deeper social divisions in Afghanistan.
Mohaqiq referred to the recent detention and assault of Hussaindad Sharifi, a prominent Shia cleric and prayer leader in Kabul, who he said was beaten and humiliated by Taliban officials for officiating a temporary marriage contract for a Shia couple.
Sharifi has also said Taliban forces recently detained dozens of Shia clerics for registering temporary marriages.
According to Sharifi, Taliban officials forced the clerics to sign written pledges not to conduct such marriages again and threatened them with imprisonment if they failed to comply.
Mohaqiq added that dozens of Shia religious scholars had been summoned to Taliban police stations and ordered not to conduct marriage ceremonies according to Shia traditions.
He said clerics were warned they could face six months in prison if they violated the order.
The anti-Taliban politician also referred to a case in Daykundi in which an elderly Pashtun man reportedly claimed marriage rights over a young married Hazara woman.
According to Mohaqiq, the Taliban court pressured the couple without sufficient grounds, detained relatives of the family and forced the couple to flee the area.
He described the incidents as examples of what he called “religious and honour-based pressure” against Hazara and Shia communities.
Mohaqiq warned that, alongside military and security pressures, such actions would deepen hostility and tensions within society.
He urged the Taliban to respect the personal status laws and religious affairs of Hazara and Shia communities, saying continued interference would benefit no side.
He also called on the Taliban, “at least for their own interests”, not to further violate the private and religious affairs of Hazara and Shia citizens.
Earlier, local sources told Afghanistan International that Taliban morality police had taken Sharifi to Police District 18 in Kabul and physically assaulted him.
According to the sources, Taliban officials treated the cleric in a “humiliating and violent manner” because he had conducted the marriage ceremony of a couple before their wedding celebration.
Taliban governors, intelligence chiefs and police commanders from Afghanistan’s north-western region held a meeting in Sar-e Pol province to discuss security and coordination among Taliban institutions.
Haji Zaid, a spokesperson for Taliban's governor of Balkh province, said on X on Friday that the governors of Balkh, Sar-e Pol, Jawzjan, Samangan and Faryab provinces along with other senior officials, attended the meeting.
He said the session was chaired by the Taliban governor of Balkh.
According to Haji Zaid, participants discussed a range of security, administrative, cultural and social issues and adopted what he described as the necessary decisions.
Radio Television Afghanistan reported that discussions also covered the enforcement of laws, combating criminal activity, preventing what the Taliban described as “negative propaganda” against the group, tackling narcotics, and preventing administrative and moral corruption.
The Taliban police command in Balkh published images from the meeting on its X account.
The gathering was one of a series of periodic coordination meetings among senior Taliban officials in northern Afghanistan, which are usually held every few months.
Observers say the north-western zone, including Balkh, Sar-e Pol, Jawzjan, Faryab and Samangan, is particularly sensitive for the Taliban due to security concerns, opposition group activity, ethnic tensions, drug trafficking and local discontent.
Yue Xiaoyong, Chinese special envoy for Afghanistan, held separate meetings with a Qatari deputy foreign minister and the Taliban ambassador in Doha to discuss Afghanistan and rising tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan.
According to a statement issued on Friday by Qatar’s foreign ministry, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi and the Chinese envoy reviewed recent developments in Afghanistan and ways to strengthen joint international efforts to promote security and stability in the country.
Al Khulaifi stressed the importance of resolving tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan through peaceful means and reinforcing regional peace and stability.
The Chinese envoy also said the two sides discussed efforts to peacefully resolve the tensions.
China and Qatar have played active roles in facilitating dialogue between the Taliban and Pakistan.
In April 2026, China hosted informal talks between representatives of the two sides in the city of Urumqi. The negotiations ended without a specific agreement, though Chinese officials described them as an important framework for reducing tensions.
Earlier this week, Yue visited Kabul and met Amir Khan Muttaqi, where he stressed the importance of continuing dialogue within the framework of the Urumqi process.
Writing on X, Yue said both sides viewed the process positively and were ready to work together for regional peace, security and development.
The Chinese envoy also met Suhail Shaheen, the taliban ambassador in Doha. He wrote that he was “pleased to see relations between Afghanistan and the region expanding”.
The Taliban embassy in Qatar said discussions covered bilateral relations between Afghanistan and China, the current political situation, trade and economic issues, and Chinese humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
The talks come amid rising militant attacks in Pakistan’s tribal regions, mainly by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, including a suicide bombing and shooting in Bannu on 9 May and another attack in Bajaur.
The violence has reportedly increased doubts in Islamabad about continuing the negotiations. Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of sheltering militant groups, an allegation the Taliban deny.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesperson declined on Thursday to provide further details about the future of the Urumqi talks when questioned by reporters.
Relations between the Taliban and Pakistan have remained tense since the Urumqi meeting. The Taliban summoned Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires in Kabul on 29 April, while Islamabad has repeatedly summoned Taliban representatives, including on 11 May after an attack in Bannu that killed 15 police officers.
Tawus, a 26-year-old married woman from Daykundi, says a man allegedly backed by the Taliban is trying to force her into a second marriage, driving her into hiding to avoid arrest and coercion.
Tawus told Afghanistan International that she became engaged in 2020 and married her husband in late 2025.
According to her, a few months after the marriage, “another man, who is Pashtun and armed”, entered their home and claimed that he was her real husband.
She said the Taliban court in Ashtarlay District arrested several of her relatives after the man filed a complaint.
The Taliban police command in Ashtarlay detained her father for 24 days from April 2 to April 27, her brother-in-law for 14 days from April 27 to May 10, and her father-in-law for four days.
Mawlawi Elham, Taliban judge in Ashtarlay district, confirmed the arrests in an interview with a local media outlet.
Tawus said the Taliban released her father-in-law on Wednesday, May 13, after local elders provided guarantees.
Local sources, speaking anonymously, said Taliban authorities had urged the woman’s family and the complainant to resolve the issue through local Hazara and Pashtun elders.
According to sources, the complainant said he would withdraw his case if Tawus’s family gave him another woman in marriage and paid 700,000 Afghanis.
Despite repeated attempts, Afghanistan International was unable to obtain the complainant’s comments. Local Taliban officials also did not respond to requests for comment.
Asked about the case, Judge Elham told Afghanistan International: “I don’t have time.”
Tawus said she is currently in hiding and has avoided appearing before the Taliban court out of fear that she would be detained and forced into another marriage.
She claimed the man accusing her has close ties to the Taliban and said that if she appeared in court, Taliban authorities would imprison her and force her into remarriage.
Local sources in Daykundi confirmed the complainant is a civilian with close ties to the Taliban. A former local official told Afghanistan International the man also maintained close relations with the Taliban during the previous government.
Tawus said the Taliban court had not asked the complainant to provide any evidence supporting his claims and had instead pressured only her and her family.
“If this man truly married me, he should provide documents, witnesses and bring the cleric who performed the marriage,” she said.
Documents submitted by Tawus’s family to the Taliban court show that the “director of Rasul Akram Madrasa” signed and stamped her marriage certificate.
Tawus accused the Taliban court of ethnic bias, saying: “If there is no ethnic discrimination, why does this Pashtun man eats with the Taliban commander and judge, who are themselves Pashtun, while my family members are in prison?”
Unanswered Letters
Nader, Tawus’s father-in-law, wrote in a letter, a copy of which was obtained by Afghanistan International, to the Taliban intelligence office in Daykundi that the complainant had twice entered his home with a weapon, insulted women in the household and threatened them with death.
The letter stated that the man had “connections with government offices in Ashtarlay district” and was trying to extort money from Tawus’s family.
Habib, brother of Tawus, also wrote to the Taliban governor of Daykundi, saying that Tawus and her younger brother had worked in the complainant’s shop for nearly three months while studying in Nili city, earning 3,000 Afghanis.
Habib wrote that the complainant was now falsely claiming he had paid for Tawus’s education and pilgrimage expenses to Karbala in Iraq.
“These claims are false and dishonour a married woman,” he wrote, adding that his father remained imprisoned by the Taliban.
Habib asked the Taliban governor to cooperate and insisted the complainant should be held accountable for his allegations.
Another letter from a village local to the Taliban district governor stated: “I have no knowledge of any money allegedly paid by Asadullah to Jan Mohammad’s daughter (Tawus) or of him covering pilgrimage expenses.”
At the same time, 16 elders from Bidagh village wrote to the Taliban district governor describing the complainant’s marriage claim as “baseless and untrue”.
They urged the Taliban to stop arresting the bride and groom’s families, describing the matter as a “family honour issue”.
Tawus studied nursing in Nili, the capital of Daykundi province, but was unable to work in the field because of Taliban restrictions.
She confirmed that while studying, she and her brother worked for nearly three months in the complainant’s shop to cover expenses. She said the shop was located in a market where other men and women also worked.
Taliban Judge
Mawlawi Elham told local outlet that Tawus’s family, had to provide evidence disproving the man’s claim.
He said her relatives were imprisoned because “this is a criminal matter and, according to the complainant, why was a married woman given to another man?”
He also said Tawus had worked in the complainant’s shop and that the two had married. Addressing the fact that Tawus’s parents were unaware of any such marriage, he said: “Under Hanafi jurisprudence, parental consent is not required for marriage; two witnesses are sufficient.”
He stressed that until Tawus appears in court, the evidence and claims cannot be reviewed.
Regarding allegations that the complainant was armed and had threatened the woman’s family, the Taliban judge said security agencies should deal with that matter.
Tawus’s family says Taliban authorities are ignoring the documents and evidence they have submitted.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Justice says a new regulation on marital separation, approved by the group leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has been published, setting out conditions for divorce and separation between spouses.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Justice announced on Thursday, May 14, that the regulation had been published in Official Gazette No. 1489.
The 31-article regulation outlines various grounds and procedures for marital separation and grants judges’ authority to issue separation rulings under certain conditions.
Article 3 addresses marriage to a “non-equal” spouse. According to the regulation, if a woman with a legal guardian marries a man without her guardian’s permission and the man is considered socially, religiously or ethnically unequal by the family, the marriage may in some cases be deemed invalid and subject to annulment.
The document also addresses the prolonged absence of a husband. It states that if a husband is absent, but his whereabouts are known, a wife cannot seek separation solely on the grounds of absence or non-payment of maintenance.
It further states that if a husband is missing and his wife remarries during his absence, the second marriage becomes invalid if the first husband later returns. In such cases, the woman is considered legally married to the first husband, who may choose to keep her as his wife, divorce her or separate through a form of divorce in exchange for compensation.
Article 22 states that if a husband mistreats his wife, denies her rights or there is severe hostility between them, the woman may apply to a court. However, the regulation adds that if the abuse can be prevented through other means, a judge cannot grant separation solely at the wife’s request without the husband’s consent.
Another section states that if a woman claims one of her husband’s close relatives touched or kissed her sexually, the judge must question the husband. If the husband confirms the allegation, the judge may order separation. If he denies it, the woman must provide witnesses. If she cannot do so, the husband may swear an oath; if he refuses, the judge may order separation.
The regulation also addresses “Zihar”, an Islamic term referring to a husband comparing his wife to a female relative he cannot marry. In such cases, marital relations are forbidden until religious atonement is made. If the husband refuses to make atonement or divorce his wife, the judge may compel him through imprisonment or corporal punishment.
The regulation further states that if either spouse leaves Islam, the marriage is automatically dissolved without requiring a judicial ruling.
It also says that if a husband suffers from sexual disorders, the wife may seek separation through the courts. In some cases, judges may immediately order separation, while in others they may allow the husband one year for treatment.
However, the regulation states that certain illnesses, including mental illness, vitiligo and leprosy, are not considered valid grounds for separation.