Afghanistan: Taliban execute man and hang him from crane in plain sight

This Saturday, the Taliban resumed their summary executions in public, like what they did more than 20 years ago, in order to deter possible rebellions.

The new rulers of Afghanistan thus executed in Herat, a large city in the west of the country, a man accused of kidnapping.

They then hung his body from a crane in the town's main square.

Extremely shocking images that Le Parisien was able to consult on social networks.

We see a dead man hanging from a crane, like a hanged man.

A show of force also used in nearby Iran.

The scene was also documented by local witnesses to the US agency AP.

Wazir Ahmad Seddiqi, who runs a local pharmacy, told the agency that a total of four bodies were brought to the square and three more were then transported to other parts of the city for display in the public.

According to this witness, the Taliban said the men participated in a kidnapping and were killed by local police.

A Taliban-appointed police chief in the city then claimed that the kidnappers abducted a father and son, adding that the two men were rescued after a shooting that left four victims: the four suspected kidnappers, according to AP

The Taliban quickly took control of Afghanistan in mid-August and has since set out to gain international legitimacy, despite fears that the radical Islamist group may revive its past brutality.

Justified fears, which have just materialized.

Under the previous regime, the Taliban slaughtered murderers and cut off the hands and feet of suspected highway robbers, under Sharia law.

However, Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, one of the founders of the movement, said earlier this week that the group had decided that executions and amputations would once again be on the agenda as punishment for common crimes.

Read also Afghanistan: in the stronghold of the new masters of Kabul

“No one will tell us what our laws should be,” Turabi told the AP. "We will follow Islam and we will make our laws on the Koran." Asked about Turabi's comments on Friday, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the United States condemned them "in the strongest terms." "The acts the Taliban are talking about here would constitute flagrant and obvious human rights violations, and we stand firmly with the international community to hold the perpetrators of these - of all these abuses - accountable," he said. the representative told reporters. It is difficult to see how the United States will sanction the perpetrators of these acts, when they left the country with loss and crash on August 31st.

A mechanism for monitoring human rights violations in Afghanistan?

Rather followers of Real Politik, the Biden administration at the same time this Friday granted two exemptions from the economic sanctions imposed on the Taliban in order to facilitate the granting of humanitarian aid in the country.

The first exemption authorizes the US government, NGOs, and some international organizations and entities, "to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan or other activities contributing to basic needs" in the country, details a statement from the ministry of the American Economy.

The second exemption authorizes certain transactions related to the export of agricultural products (food, seeds, fertilizers), drugs and medical equipment, it is added.

The ministry "remains committed to ensuring that US sanctions do not limit the ability of civilians in Afghanistan to receive humanitarian support from the US government or the international community, while continuing to deny the Taliban and other entities and individuals under sanctions access to certain assets ”.

On the European side, the EU intends to have a resolution adopted during the current session of the UN Human Rights Council establishing the creation of a rapporteur on Afghanistan, according to a document circulated on Friday.

In recent weeks, the European Union and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet have called for the Council - in session until October 8 - to launch a mechanism to monitor human rights violations in Afghanistan .

This may be his first future record.