Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada has plans for harsh Sharia law in Afghanistan, including public amputations and stoning, the BBC reports.
The Taliban had implemented harsh Sharia law in the 1990s when they took over in Afghanistan, but promised after the United States withdrew in 2021 that they would offer “amnesty for all.”
“His Highness Amir al-Mu’minin in a meeting with the judges: Examine the files of thieves, kidnappers and seditionists carefully. Those files in which all the Shariah conditions of Hadd and Qisas are fulfilled, you are obliged to implement Hadd and Qisas,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted on Sunday.
Women were banned from visiting parks in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, last week.
At the beginning of September 2021, just a few weeks after the U.S. pullout, Joe Biden’s administration praised the Taliban, calling them “businesslike and professional.”
“The Taliban have been cooperative in facilitating the departure of American citizens and lawful permanent residents on charter flights from HKIA,” the administration claimed in a statement after some American citizens were finally evacuated out of Afghanistan after being left there. “They have shown flexibility, and they have been businesslike and professional in our dealings with them in this effort. This is a positive first step.”
“We will continue these efforts to facilitate the safe and orderly travel of American citizens, lawful permanent residents, and Afghans who worked for us and wish to leave Afghanistan,” the statement continued. “Because there is an ongoing terrorist threat to operations of this nature, we will not be sharing details of these efforts before people are safely out of the country.”
Prior to that, at the end of August, former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki pointed reporters to Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s remarks, then boasted, “We have enormous leverage over the Taliban.”
The State Department wrote in 2001 regarding the Taliban’s history with women when they ruled Afghanistan between 1996-2001:
Under Taliban rule, women were given only the most rudimentary access to health care and medical care, thereby endangering the health of women, and in turn, their families. In most hospitals, male physicians could only examine a female patient if she were fully clothed, ruling out the possibility of meaningful diagnosis and treatment. These Taliban regulations led to a lack of adequate medical care for women and contributed to increased suffering and higher mortality rates. …
In May 2001, the Taliban raided and temporarily closed a foreign-funded hospital in Kabul because male and female staff allegedly mixed in the dining room and operating wards. It is significant to note that approximately 70% of health services had been provided by international relief organizations — further highlighting the Taliban’s general disregard for the welfare of the Afghan people.
Ryan Saavedra contributed to this report.
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