By Marjan Sadat

First public execution since the regime’s return to power draws condemnation including from Islamic scholars.
For the first time since seizing power last year, the Taliban have publicly executed a man in a staged “death show.”
For those living under the Afghan regime, this week’s execution served as a gruesome reminder of an era many thought they would never see again.
A man identified as Tajmir of Herat province was publicly executed at a crowded sports stadium in southwestern Farah province. He was convicted of murder by the highest Taliban courts, as per the statement issued by the de facto government.
According to the Taliban, Tajmir had killed a man named Mustafa a few years ago and taken his motorcycle and mobile phone.
The execution was witnessed by thousands, with many high-ranking Taliban officials present, including Mawlawi Abdul Hakim, the regime’s chief justice, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the deputy prime minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani, the interior minister, and Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, the minister of vice and virtue.
The first public execution under this Taliban regime drew condemnation domestically and internationally.
A day later, the Taliban responded with another “public flogging show.” According to its supreme court, they flogged 30 people, including nine women, in public in Parwan and Paktika provinces. Various charges included robbery and extramarital sex. No details about the identity of these people were released.
A regime official said all governmental department employees were told to go to the stadium to see the execution.
The employee, who asked not to be identified, said that although he had no interest in seeing this scene, he went to the stadium out of fear.
“When I saw that shot in Tajmir’s head, I felt very sad, because he was also a human being. I was totally depressed,” he told the Star, speaking in Persian.
A local journalist who went to the stadium, who the Star is not naming for safety reasons, said the Taliban leaders in the stadium gave speeches and said that they would implement “Shariah Law” and didn’t care about the international community.
“I had heard about the horrors of the Taliban, but I could not believe that one day I would see such a situation with my own eyes,” the 26-yar-old told the Star via WhatsApp.
He said there were about 4,000 to 5,000 people in the stadium, mostly children and teenagers. He worried that another generation will grow up with “brutal ideology.”
He said he was 50 metres away and tried to film but said the Taliban prevented it.
Amrullah Saleh, vice-president of Afghanistan in the Republic era before the Taliban takeover in 2021, tweeted that the ISIS-style public executions and floggings had been started in Afghanistan by the Taliban.
“In the ’90s, there was one stadium for executions in Kabul. Now dozens of stadiums across Afghanistan are used for ISIS-style human butchering theatres. This policy was rewarded with an additional 40 million USD this week ….” This was a reference to weekly international humanitarian aid shipments that have been arriving in Kabul, which he and others say are propping up the regime.
The U.S, U.K. and France have condemned the execution, as have the UN and Amnesty International.
Richard Bennett, UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, tweeted that public executions attended by senior de facto officials such as in Farah violate the right to life, constitute cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment and breach Afghanistan’s obligations under ratified human rights treaties.
Amnesty International called the public execution “cruel, inhuman and degrading.”
Ned Price, the U.S foreign ministry spokesperson, in a press conference on Wednesday said the Taliban’s “despicable” public execution in Afghanistan showed a return to the group’s dark past.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted that the death penalty exists in the U.S., Europe and all over the world, and denounced what he called interference in Afghan internal affairs.
“The world’s criticism of the executions in public shows that either they do not know about Islam or they have a problem with Islam.”
Qisas is an Islamic term interpreted to mean “retaliation in kind,” “eye for an eye” or “Retributive justice.” According to the Islamic Shariah, the doctrine of Qisas provides for a punishment analogous to a crime.
Many Islamic countries do not impose Qisas..
Maulawi Abdullah Qarluq, a well-known Islamic scholar and governor during the Republic era, says that no Muslim is against Qisas, but proper conditions for justice must be in place.
Qarluq said there must be proof of the crime. And the rulers and judges should be determined by the consensus of the Muslims, something absent in Taliban rule.
“The current situation in Afghanistan under the administration of the Taliban is really disastrous for the people.”
Mohammad Moheq, the former ambassador of Afghanistan in Egypt and a researcher in Islamic studies, says that Qisas is mentioned in the Qur’an in a general way, but in Islamic jurisprudence and Shariah, the conditions for Qisas have been under discussion for years.
Moheq adds that the first step of Qisas implementation is proof of a crime.
“By applying such rules, the Taliban presents an unrealistic image of Islam,” he told the Star from Vancouver, speaking in Persian.
Moheq said public violence leads to the normalization of murder and other violent acts.
He added that such actions could inspire other extremist groups from North Africa to the tribal areas of Pakistan to commit violence in the name of Shariah law.
“A primitive interpretation of Islam as a government system is very dangerous in today’s world.”

This interview was published on ‘The Toronto Star and thestar” website.