Richard Bennett: Taliban Use Public Executions to Instil Fear among the People

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Richard Bennett, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, has condemned the recent execution in Badghis province, saying that the Taliban are using public executions as a tool to intimidate the population and enforce social control.

In a statement, Bennett said: “Public executions and other cruel punishments are not only a horrific form of violence but a deliberate means of instilling fear and suppressing society. These acts must be unequivocally condemned.”

Referring to the absence of justice and judicial independence under the Taliban, he added: “The use of the death penalty is concerning in any country, but in Afghanistan, where there is no fair trial, it is even more alarming.”

Bennett stressed that “the death penalty is a cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment; it is often applied unjustly, irreversible in nature, and fails to serve as an effective deterrent against crime.”

He said that last week’s public execution was another example of Taliban violence aimed at spreading fear and maintaining control. He called for the immediate suspension of all executions and urged the Taliban to begin the process of abolishing the death penalty entirely.

This comes after the Taliban’s Supreme Court publicly executed a man convicted of murder on October 16 at a stadium in Badghis province.

According to reports, since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, at least eleven people have been executed in public.