Death Penalty Works, Afghans Say

After six hangings, public opinion appears solidly behind capital punishment.

The recent execution of a group of men found guilty of gang rape has been welcomed by human rights groups as well as officials in Afghanistan, despite strong international criticism.

On August 28, armed men wearing police uniforms stopped a group of cars returning to Kabul from a wedding ceremony in Paghman district. They tied up the men and raped at least four of the women, and stole jewellery and other valuables.

Seven suspects were arrested and were quickly brought to trial and sentenced to death. Two of them later had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment.

The outgoing president, Hamed Karzai, signed the death warrants shortly before he left office. His successor, President Ashraf Ghani, chose not to block them.

The five men were hanged in Kabul on October 8, along with a sixth man, Habib Istalif, convicted of leading a kidnapping gang in a separate case.

International organisations including the United Nations, the European Union, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch condemned the decision to carry out the executions, and said the judicial process had been flawed.

Not only was the trial rushed - the televised proceedings took just two hours - but one of the defendants said he had made his confession under torture. Karzai had called publicly for the death penalty even before the trial started.

Noting that capital punishment was applicable to very few crimes under Afghan law, Human Rights Watch said, "International human rights treaties to which Afghanistan is a party only allow the death penalty for the most serious crimes when there is scrupulous adherence to fair trial standards. This case fell far short of those international standards."

However, in Afghanistan, where violence against women is common and often goes unpunished, the case sparked huge interest. Public opinion was largely supportive of the sentences.

Even domestic human rights groups welcomed the executions. The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission said they sent an important message about the rule of law.

"The law has not been applied properly for the last 13 years," commission spokesman Abdul Maruf Bedar said. "Law enforcement has been biased. As a result, impunity - people escaping justice - has caused crime levels to increase."

Bedar said that under the new Ghani administration, "many hope that this problem will be addressed".

Officials claimed that the executions had an immediate deterrent effect on gender violence.

"We haven't had any reports of rape [since then], although we had high figures for violent crime against women in the first six months of the year, prior to the executions," said Aziza Adalatkhwa, head of the justice department at the women's affairs ministry.

Adalatkhwa said the threat of the death penalty could do a lot to reduce crime levels, providing trials were fair.

Senior police officers, too, said that crime had fallen since the highly-publicised executions.

"After these six individuals were executed, the crime level dropped significantly," Kabul police spokesman Hashmatullah Stanekzai said. "The offenses recorded at police stations were mostly minor family matters, not major crimes."

Many feel that a society in which armed men have gone unpunished for so long cannot afford to have too many scruples in pursuit of law and order.

"The execution of these six individuals has had a positive impact on the situation," said Munawar Shah Bahaduri. "It was a serious warning to professional criminals."

His colleague from Faryab province, Mohammad Hashem, agreed, saying "current circumstances require it".

"If capital punishment is abolished here some day, I will be amongst those who oppose the decision," he added.

According to Fawzia Naseryar, a parliamentarian from Kabul, "some people have been brought up to be uncontrolled and ungovernable during years of war. They don't obey the law, so the law must be imposed rigorously. I support the death penalty… firstly because it is mandated by Islam, and also because it serves to punish criminals and reform society."

Fatana Gailani, head of the Afghanistan Women Council, pointed out that high crime rates were a consequence of broader factors like continuing conflict, unemployment, poverty, lack of education.

However, she too stopped short of condemning the recent executions.

"Although the execution of these six individuals was appropriate and had a positive impact on the crime level, the death penalty is not the ultimate solution," she told IWPR.

Capital punishment has been applied sparingly since the Taleban government was ousted in 2001. While as many as 400 people have received death sentences in the last 13 years, fewer than 40 executions have been carried out. In the past, Karzai has been criticised for his apparent reluctance to sign death warrants.

Kabul resident Sanabar, 60, who has four daughters, said the hangings had boosted her faith in the government.

"I used to guard my daughters all day long, because I was sure that no one would defend us if something happened," she said. "I prevented my daughters from travelling to college. However, since the criminals were executed, they are now going to the city and continuing their studies. This has created hope for us."

Kabir, 57, who sells second-hand clothes in Kabul's Kart-e Char neighbourhood, said that he had never sent his two young daughters to school for fear they would be assaulted.

"Since I have no sons [to accompany them] and there was no security, I didn't allow my daughters to go to school after grade six," he said. "I used to worry every day. I used to leave work and go home to check on my girls…. Now I can work in peace. Executing these six men has really weakened the morale of criminals."