Afghanistan: UN rights expert deplores reported public execution by Taliban

A United Nations human rights expert today condemned “in very strong terms” the reported public execution by Afghanistan’s ousted Taliban regime of an alleged murderer in Daikundi province.

“The return to the practice of making a public spectacle of the execution harks back to the worst excesses of the old regime,” the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Leandro Despouy, said in a statement.

“The administration of justice is a function that clearly belongs to the State of Afghanistan. It is entirely unacceptable for a non-state entity, such as the Taliban, to exercise a state function by trying and punishing an alleged criminal,” he added.

After years of conflict, the people of Afghanistan need an effective, just, and transparent system of criminal justice that reflects its democratically elected institutions and Mr. Despouy supports the international community and the Afghan people in their efforts to build a law abiding society, the statement concluded.

Special Rapporteurs are unpaid experts serving in an independent personal capacity, who received their mandate from the now defunct UN Commission on Human Rights and will report to the newly established and enhanced Human Rights Council.