Afghan supreme leader orders full enforcement of Islamic law

KABUL: Amid the growing concern over the human rights situation in Afghanistan, Taliban supreme leader Mawlawi Hebatullah Akhundzada, has ordered judges to fully implement Islamic law.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the command from Haibatullah Akhundzada came after the leader met with a group of judges.

"Alaiqadar Amirul Momineen in a meeting of judges: Investigate the cases of thieves, kidnappers and seditionists. Those cases that have met all the Shariah conditions of limitation and retribution, you are obliged to issue the limitation and retribution, because this is the order of the Sharia and my order and it is obligatory to act," Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted on Sunday.

A Taliban spokesperson said the order of the leader of the Islamic Emirate will be implemented throughout the country. "Those who are involved in murder, kidnapping and theft must be punished for their actions," Taliban spokesperson Yousef Ahmadi told TOLOnews.

The Afghan news agency said this is the first time the Taliban leader issued a formal order to fully implement all aspects of Islamic law throughout the country since the Islamic group came to power.

The Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021 and imposed policies severely restricting basic rights--particularly those of women and girls, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). The Taliban have dismissed all women from leadership posts in the civil service and prohibited girls in most provinces from attending secondary school.

Taliban decrees prohibit women from traveling unless accompanied by a male relative and require women's faces be covered in public--including women TV newscasters. The Taliban have censored broad, limiting critical reporting, and detained and beaten journalists.

According to rights groups, Taliban forces have carried out revenge killings and enforced disappearances of former government officials and security force personnel. They have summarily executed people deemed affiliated with the Islamic State.