(This is the sixth letter from a young Hazara man inside Afghanistan about life under Taliban rule. A friend helped me edit the English version as presented here.)
Dear David,
The Taliban are holding kangaroo court trials and imposing harsh sentences on people across the country. They also appear to have a poor grasp of Islamic law. Here is a broad overview of some of the atrocities we are experiencing.
Drumhead court-martials
A drumhead court-martial is one held in the field in urgent cases of offenses committed in action. The term implies spontaneity, a lack of organization, and also a form of summary justice.
According to the independent journal Hasht-e-Sobh, an Afghan artist and comedian named Young Khasha from the Dand district of Kandahar was arrested on Thursday night of 22 July. He was executed the next day.
According to a local source, a non-Talib kidnapper was arrested a few days ago in Nawa district of Helmand and sentenced to death after a trial. A future date was set for his execution, but then he was summarily executed anyway.
Blind faith
A video on social media shows a journalist interviewing a Talib Commander, asking him, “now that you have declared general amnesty, have you asked people for forgiveness in return? From people who have lost their youths and kids in suicide attacks that you (Taliban) carried out?”
The Talib answered:, “They don't have any right for forgiveness from us because they are sinful for living beside infidels, and not fighting against infidels and foreigners.”
Other videos show Taliban leaders asked about their religious beliefs responding that they are fighting for Islam and sacrificing their lives for it without fully understanding the tenets of the faith.
Uncontrolled forces
When the government was captured by the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid declared that the women should stay home because their soldiers are not trained on how to treat them properly. This indicates that the leaders don't have control over their soldiers.
There are reports of many murders by the Taliban across the country. The Taliban deny these reports.
Revenge killings
The BBC reported that about 400 people have been kidnapped from their homes, and that more than 100 people were killed by the Taliban when they captured Spin Boldak, a district in Kandahar. Most of the victims were Achekzai, a Pashtun tribe. Their leader, General Raziq, fought against the Taliban for many years, until he was killed in Kandahar three years ago.
Etilaatroz, a local journal, reported that about 43 people including women and children have been killed by the Taliban in Malistan. This was because local government officials resisted the Taliban takeover.
Inconsistent enforcement of Sharia law
Sharia law is based on the Quran, including stories of the Prophet Muhammad’s life and the rulings of religious scholars. This forms the moral and legal framework forIslamic law. The Quran prescribes a path to a moral life, but not a specific set of laws.
There are actually five different schools of Islamic law, and they differ in how literally the religious texts should be interpreted. There also are nuances of Islamic law according to local culture and customs, which means Sharia may look quite different in different places.
For example, some interpretations of Sharia affords women extensive rights, while others leave women with few rights. Critics say that the Taliban’s restrictions on women go way beyond the bounds of any interpretation of Sharia.
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