Crowd of 80,000 watches as Taliban forces boy to execute prisoner
A man was publicly executed in a stadium in Afghanistan on Tuesday, with the Taliban forcing a 13-year-old boy to carry out the act.
The Taliban in Afghanistan have conducted another large-scale public execution before a stadium filled with tens of thousands of spectators, but this time they compelled a 13 year old boy to execute the man accused of murdering more than a dozen of his relatives.
The public killing took place at a stadium in the eastern city of Khost on Tuesday, December 2, with Afghanistan's Supreme Court claiming the condemned man had slain 13 members of the boy's family, including multiple children. Approximately 80,000 attendees, including family members of the victims, witnessed the execution in the MetLife Stadium-sized venue, marking the 11th such event since the Taliban took control following the departure of US and NATO forces in 2021.
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The Supreme Court's statement indicated the action followed a death sentence upheld by a trial court, an appeals court and the nation's highest court, with final authorization from Afghanistan's supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada.It comes after Donald Trump's doctor issues a major health update after his MRI scan.
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According to their account, the victim's family was "offered the option of forgiveness and retaliation" but "refused" and "insisted on Qisas" - a Sharia law principle that roughly means "an eye for an eye". The man was fatally shot by a relative of the family he was found guilty of murdering, according to Khost police spokesman Mustaghfir Gorbaz.
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He and another man were convicted of breaking into a family home in the province and killing an extended family, including nine children and their mother, Mr Gorbaz added.
Spectators were prohibited from recording the execution, but video footage taken from outside the stadium revealed large crowds heading towards the venue, reports the Express.
The United Nations' Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan, Richard Bennet, denounced the execution, stating on X: "Public executions are inhumane, a cruel and unusual punishment, and contrary to international law". In October, Mr Bennett expressed that the use of capital punishment in Afghanistan was "especially alarming" given that the Taliban-controlled justice system "lacks any semblance of independence or due process."
Since reclaiming power in 2021, the Taliban authorities have enforced a strict interpretation of Sharia law, which has seen a resurgence of public executions, as well as prohibitions on Afghan women and girls attending secondary school and university education and from most forms of employment. Public executions were also prevalent during the Taliban's initial rule from 1996 to 2001.
On April 11, four men faced public execution in three cities nationwide, once more before tens of thousands of onlookers gathered at sports stadiums. At the time, Amnesty International urged authorities to stop the executions, which it characterized as a "gross affront to human dignity".
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