JURIST EXCLUSIVE – Law students and lawyers in Afghanistan are filing reports with JURIST on the situation there after the Taliban takeover. Here, a Staff Correspondent for JURIST in Kabul offers his observations on the return of public shaming and torture and the lack of due process under the Taliban in Afghanistan. For privacy and security reasons, we are withholding his name. The text has been only lightly edited to respect the author’s voice.

The Taliban arrested three men accused of theft Tuesday in the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan, who were reportedly tortured and shamed in public. Public shaming and torture has returned to Afghanistan under the Taliban and many such incidents have taken place during the last three months, despite a prohibition on such practices under current legislation. In fact, the penal code specifically discourages such practices.

The Badakhshan incident occurred with no judicial proceeding or even an official order from the Taliban. The Taliban shaved the three accused men’s beards and hair and forced them to carry the stolen items on their shoulders in public display.

Ironically, the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice released statements against the imposition of such punishments without a competent court order. However, it appears that some of the group’s members are not following such advisory or are violating official orders.

Similar acts by the Taliban have been witnessed in Herat, Mazar, Takhar, and other provinces.