Afghanistan’s Taliban-run interim government has forbidden the public display of executed prisoners without first obtaining a court warrant, according to recent reports released in Kabul.
Between 1996 and 2001, when the Taliban was in control, public killings were frequently followed by the “hanging out” of bodies or body parts in public.
According to the report, it served as a final humiliation for the accused criminal as well as a clear message to others.
The practice has recently been resumed in various Afghan provinces, proving to many that the Taliban remains fundamentally unchanged, despite recent efforts to project a more moderate image to the outside world.
The new edict banning such gruesome public displays was issued on Thursday evening.
It includes an order to instead publicise a criminal’s crime and their mandated punishment.
Also included in the government’s latest decree was an order to ensure the security of ‘important experts’ and ‘famous skilled figures,’ a reference to the massive brain drain Afghanistan has undergone since the Taliban returned to power.
A suggestion that the authorities wanted to prevent any more well-educated Afghans from leaving the country.