Despite international condemnation, the Taliban appear undeterred in their approach. With no formally recognized justice system and growing fears of judicial opacity, many Afghans are left to grapple with a legal framework that combines harsh punishments with minimal transparency.
In a grim echo of its earlier rule, the Taliban publicly executed four men across three Afghan provinces on Friday, April 11 — the largest number of public executions in a single day since the militant group seized power again in 2021, according to a report from Radio Free Europe’s Radio Azadi. The executions, carried out in crowded sports stadiums before tens of thousands of spectators, have drawn sharp condemnation from global human rights organizations and the United Nations.
According to a statement from Afghanistan’s Supreme Court, the four men were sentenced to death under “retaliatory punishment” laws – known as qisas, or retributive justice – for allegedly shooting and killing other men. The court claimed that the cases were “examined very precisely and repeatedly,” and that the victims’ families had declined to grant amnesty in exchange for blood money, paving the way for execution.
Local reports confirmed that the executions took place in the western provinces of Farah, Nimroz, and Badghis. In line with Taliban practice, the punishment was carried out by family members of the murder victims, who shot the accused men in front of gathered crowds. Civil servants, military personnel, and ordinary citizens were invited to the events via official announcements widely circulated on Thursday.
Eyewitnesses speaking to Radio Free Europe’s Radio Azadi described the executions as distressing. One resident of Nimroz, who requested anonymity, recounted to Radio Azadi: “The man was shot by the victim’s family. Watching this scene was unbearable. No one wants to witness a killing, even if it is declared a divine punishment.” Another witness said the crowd included women and children, and that “people don’t fully understand these issues – this kind of event leaves a serious psychological impact.”
The four executions bring the total number of publicly executed individuals in Afghanistan since August 2021 to at least 10. The last known public execution took place in November 2024 in Gardez, Paktia province, where a convicted murderer was shot three times in the chest by a relative of the victim. That event, too, drew thousands of spectators, including senior Taliban officials.
Public executions and corporal punishments – such as floggings for theft, adultery, and alcohol consumption – have become increasingly common since the Taliban’s return to power. All death sentences are approved by the group’s reclusive supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, who is believed to reside in Kandahar.
Eye for an Eye
The Taliban have justified their actions as faithful enforcement of Islamic law. In 2022, Akhundzada ordered judges to implement all aspects of sharia, including qisas, which allows for death as retribution in murder cases. Law and order – underpinned by a strict and literal interpretation of religious law – has long been a central pillar of the Taliban’s ideology, one that emerged from the chaos of Afghanistan’s post-Soviet civil war.
But human rights organizations and international bodies have expressed outrage over the practice. In a statement posted to X (formerly Twitter), Amnesty International condemned the executions as “deplorable,” calling them “a gross affront to human dignity.”
“Afghanistan: The deplorable public executions of four people in Nimroz, Farah and Badghis in Afghanistan today point to Taliban’s continued alarming abuse of human rights in the country,” the group said. “The international community must put pressure on the Taliban to stop this blatant human rights abuse and help ensure international guarantees are upheld in Afghanistan.”
The United Nations Human Rights Office echoed these concerns, urging the Taliban to impose a moratorium on the death penalty. “We are appalled by executions of four men in the Badghis, Nimroz and Farah provinces this morning,” the UN rights office posted. “We urge the de facto authorities in Afghanistan to place a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.”
Rights groups also say the trials that led to these executions likely fell short of international standards. Amnesty International, in its April report on global capital punishment, noted that Afghanistan was among the countries where “death sentences were known to have been imposed after proceedings that did not meet international fair trial standards.” The report placed Afghanistan alongside countries such as Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, which accounted for 91 percent of known executions in 2024.
Despite international condemnation, the Taliban appear undeterred in their approach. With no formally recognized justice system and growing fears of judicial opacity, many Afghans – especially in rural and conservative regions – are left to grapple with a legal framework that combines harsh punishments with minimal transparency.
Human rights advocates warn that these public spectacles of punishment risk not only violating legal norms, but also entrenching a cycle of trauma and fear in a nation already battered by decades of conflict.
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