Threatening judges and excluding women: Taliban replaces Afghan constitution with its own laws

Nahla Abdel Moneim

The Taliban movement rose to power after years of street wars, which gave it an opportunity to take revenge on those who lined up against it before, and judges and legal personnel are among the most prominent Afghans that the new authority tyrannizes.

The Guardian reported that about 4,000 legal employees and prosecutors are at risk of violence at the hands of the Taliban, as about 28 prosecutors have been killed since the movement came to power in August 2021.

Suffering of a legal employee

The Guardian report, published on August 14, recounted the suffering of a female legal employee under the Taliban’s authority. Before the movement came to power, the employee was part of a team that issued a 6-month prison sentence against one of the movement’s members for mistreating and assaulting his wife.

After the Taliban gained power, it released many of the convicts in criminal cases, which allowed some of the elements to communicate with the plaintiffs who caused them to be imprisoned and threatened, including the plaintiff whose story was told by the Guardian, which noted that the Taliban member threatened the plaintiff by phone and then stormed her house with a group of armed men, forcing her and her family to flee to a secret location.

The plaintiff feared retaliation against her and her family at the hands of other Taliban elements whom they were able to pass judgments against during the years prior to the movement’s ascension to power, as she had participated in the issuance of no less than 2,000 judgments against men accused of murder, rape and forced marriage.

Undermining legal functions in Afghanistan

In addition to the legal employee fleeing and fearing for her life and the security of her family, she is no longer able to complete her work in the judiciary, affecting in one way or another the course of justice in the country, which was reported by the judicial staff to international media.

Those working in the judicial and legal bodies are no longer able to work in light of the threats practiced by members of the movement against them because of the rulings they issued in the past to restrict their freedom.

UN criticizes legal situation

The Taliban authority has compounded the challenges of judges and legal workers in general. According to a report published by the United Nations in January 2023, women acting on behalf of the government are prevented from completing their work, while men are subjected to violence and constant threats as a direct result of the rulings they previously issued against the Taliban.

The UN pointed out that the movement’s suspension of the 2004 constitution, the dismissal of some judges, and stripping the Public Prosecutor’s Office of its main functions were a prelude to the collapse of the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary in the country.

The movement also replaced judges with members from the Taliban who received only basic religious education to issue fatwas in place of the established legal system, and it prohibited women from attending courts unless they were parties to the dispute.

The UN report indicated that the perpetrators are punished on the same day they are arrested, which means that there are no legal procedures that guarantee their rights in accordance with the recognized judicial systems.

The UN commission called on the Taliban to respect the rule of law and stop discriminatory practices against women working in the judiciary and other Afghan women affected by the methods of discrimination and violence against them.