The penal code, signed by the Islamist group’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, creates a different kind of caste system that allows different levels of punishment based on whether the offender is “free” or a “slave”.
A new penal code introduced by the Taliban ‘legalises’ domestic violence against women by allowing husbands to physically punish their wives and children as long as it does not cause “broken bones or open wounds”.
The penal code, signed by the Islamist group’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, creates a different kind of caste system that allows different levels of punishment based on whether the offender is “free” or a “slave”.
If a husband causes visible fractures or injuries in cases of “obscene force”, he could face only 15 days in prison. Moreover, the man will only be convicted if the woman can successfully prove the abuse in court. The woman is expected to show her wounds to the judge while remaining fully covered. Her husband or a male chaperone is also required to accompany her to the court.
On the other hand, a married woman can be jailed for up to three months if she visits her relatives without her husband’s permission.
Article 9 divides Afghan society into four categories: religious scholars (ulama), the elite (ashraf), the middle class, and the lower class. Under this system, punishment for the same crime is no longer determined primarily by the nature or gravity of the offence but by the social status of the accused.
According to the code, if an Islamic religious scholar commits a crime, the response is limited to advice. If the offender belongs to the elite, the consequence is a summons to court and advice. For those in the so-called middle class, the same offence results in imprisonment. But for individuals from the “lower class”, the punishment escalates to both imprisonment and corporal punishment.
Corporal punishment for serious offences will be meted out by Islamic clerics and not correctional services.
The new 90-page penal code has abolished the 2009 law on Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW), which was introduced by the previous US-backed regime.
According to The Independent, rights groups say that people are afraid to speak against the code even on conditions of anonymity because the Taliban has issued a new ruling that states that discussing the new code itself is an offence.
Rawadari, an Afghan human rights organisation that operates in exile, has called upon the United Nations and other international bodies in a statement for an “immediate halt of the implementation of the criminal procedure code” and to “utilise all legal instruments” to prevent it from becoming a reality.
Reem Alsalem, the current United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, wrote on X, “The implications of this latest code for women and girls is simply terrifying. The Taliban however have understood, and understood correctly, that no one will stop them.
Will the international community prove them wrong? And if so when?”
