Cutting off hands, executions are necessary: Taliban leader to reintroduce amputations in new Afghan regime
Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, a founder of the Taliban who will control prisons under the new government in Afghanistan, has revealed that harsh punishments, including amputations and executions, will return to the country .
“Everyone criticized us for the punishments in the stadium, but we have never said anything about their laws and their punishments,” Turabi said in Kabul during an interview, which was published Thursday, September 23, by the Associated Press.
“No one will tell us what our laws should be. We will follow Islam, and we will make our laws on the Quran.”
Under the Taliban’s previous rule of Afghanistan, Turabi served as justice minister and head of the Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, a position the Associated Press stated was “the religious police.”
During that time, amputations and executions were carried out for criminal offenses, including theft and highway robbery.
Now Turabi has revealed those same practices will be brought back.
“Cutting off of hands is very necessary for security,” Turabi said, claiming it was a deterrent to theft and other crime.
While it is not yet known whether the punishment will occur in public, Turabi said that Taliban officials are working to “develop a policy” to handle it and insisted the Taliban “are changed from the past,”
Turabi also said the Taliban would allow television, mobile phones, photos and videos “because this is the necessity of the people, and we are serious about it.”
He also noted that female judges would be allowed to adjudicate cases. However, Afghanistan’s laws will be based on the Quran claiming it would help spread the Taliban’s message.
“Now we know instead of reaching just hundreds, we can reach millions,” he said, adding that if executions and amputations are approved for public viewing, then people could record those instances and share them as a deterrent for what Taliban officials consider criminal offenses.
