KABUL (AP), One of the Taliban's founders and chief enforcers of their strict interpretation of Islamic law in Afghanistan when they last ruled, said that the Taliban will again execute and amputation hands but not in public.
Mullah Nooruddin Turkabi spoke out against the Taliban's executions, some of which were in front crowds at a stadium. He also warned the world to not interfere with Afghanistan's new rulers.
Turabi, speaking in Kabul, said that while everyone criticized us for our punishments in the stadium we had never spoken about their punishments and laws. No one can tell us what our laws should look like. We will follow Islam, and we will base our laws on the Quran.
The Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15th and Afghans, as well as the rest of the world, have been closely watching to see if they can re-create the brutal rule of the late 1990s. Turabis' comments indicated that the leaders of the Taliban are still firmly rooted in a conservative, hardline worldview, despite their willingness to embrace technological advances like video and mobile phone technology.
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Turabi, who is now in his 60s, was the justice minister and the head of the so-called Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which effectively served as the religious police under the Taliban's previous rule.
The Talibans were condemned by the entire world at that time. They were executed in Kabul's sports stadium and on the grounds of the Eid Gah Mosque, frequently attended by hundreds of Afghan men.
Executions of murderers were carried out with a single shot to their heads. The victims' families had the option to accept blood money or allow the killer to live. The punishment for convicted thieves was the amputation of one hand. Highway robbery convictions result in the amputation of a hand or a foot.
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The public was rarely allowed to see trials and convictions. Furthermore, the judiciary favors Islamic clerics whose knowledge of law was restricted to religious injunctions.
Turabi stated that judges, including women, would be able to decide cases this time around, but that the Quran will remain the basis of Afghanistan's laws. He stated that the same punishments will be reinstated.
He said that cutting off hands is essential for security and it has a deterrent impact. He stated that the Cabinet is currently studying whether punishments should be made public and would develop a policy.
Taliban fighters in Kabul have reintroduced a punishment that they used to shame men who were accused of small-time theft in recent days.
At least twice in the past week, Kabul men were forced into pickup trucks with their hands tied and paraded around humiliating them. One case saw their faces painted to indicate that they were thieves. The other case saw stale bread being hung around their necks and stuffed inside their mouths. It was not immediately clear what their crimes were.
The stocky Turabi, wearing a white turban, and with a bushy, untucked white beard, limped a little on his artificial leg. He was injured in combat with Soviet troops during the 1980s.
He is now in charge of the prisons under the Taliban government. He is one of many Taliban leaders, which includes members of the all-male interim cabinet, who are on a United Nations sanction list.
He was a fierce and uncompromising enforcer during the Taliban's previous rule. One of the first actions of the Taliban in 1996 was to shout at a female journalist and demand she leave a room full of men. He then proceeded to give a strong slap to any man who disagreed.
Turabi was known for ripping music cassettes from cars and stringing hundreds of meters of damaged cassettes in trees or signposts. His minions would routinely beat beards and demanded that men wear turbans to all government offices. Sports were prohibited and the Turabis Legion of Enforcers made men go to the mosque five times per day for prayers.
Turabi spoke with a woman journalist in this week's interview with the AP.
He said that we are different from the past.
He stated that now the Taliban would allow TV, video, and mobile phones because they see the media as a means to spread their message. We now know that we can reach millions of people, instead of just hundreds. He said that people might be allowed to take video or photos of punishments to spread the deterrent effect.
The U.S. and its allies have tried to use the threat and economic damage it would cause to press the Taliban to change their rule and allow other minorities and women to take their place in the power.
Turabi, however, dismissed the criticism of the Taliban's previous rule and argued that it had brought stability. He spoke of complete safety in all parts of the country during the late 1990s.
While Kabul residents are still afraid of their Taliban rulers, many acknowledge that Kabul has become safer in the last month. Bands of thieves used to roam the streets before the Taliban tookover. The relentless crime drove most people from the streets after dark.
Although it is not good to see these people shamed in public, it does stop criminals. He only asked for one name to identify him.
Another shopkeeper stated that it was a violation human rights, but that he was happy to open his store after hours.
