Kabul: Afghanistan received a cargo containing medicines and humanitarian aid from the European Union (EU) on Thursday.
According to Khaama Press, the humanitarian aid reached Kabul via the EU humanitarian air bridge, at a time when close to 28 million people in Afghanistan need assistance in the next year amid approaching winters. Numerous Afghan families are fighting for their lives across the nation as a result of the socio-economic and humanitarian crises and are in need of essentials like food and shelter.
As the people in Afghanistan struggle to even heat their houses and provide for their families under the Taliban regime, the harsh winter adds to the sufferings of the average citizen of the nation.
Afghanistan received the humanitarian supply shipment right after the first public execution carried out by the Taliban in Farah province. The international community responded to the act with strong responses and outrage, Khaama Press reported.
Taliban carried out the first public execution of a man charged with murder since the militant group took over the country last year, Voice of America (VOA) reported. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the public execution took place in a sports stadium in western Farah province.
Hundreds of people witnessed the execution, including the group’s top officials. The Taliban spokesperson said that the executed person was tried in the Taliban courts and subsequent appellate tribunals.
OHCHR spokesperson Jeremy Laurence described it as a ‘deeply disturbing’ development. Moreover, he added, it was performed in the presence of local residents and some senior members of the de facto authorities.
Reminding that public executions constitute a form of “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”, he stressed that they are “arbitrary in nature and contrary to the right to life protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Afghanistan is a State party”.
“The UN strongly opposes the death penalty in all circumstances”, it tweeted, urging the Taliban to establish an immediate moratorium on executions, “with a view to abolishing the death penalty,” the UNAMA said.
Meanwhile, the United States has also slammed the Taliban after reports emerged on public floggings and execution of the Afghan population by the radical Islamic group.
Speaking during the US State Department press briefing on Wednesday, spokesperson Ned Price said, “This indicates to us that the Taliban seek to – seek a return to their regressive and abusive practices of the 1990s.”
“We’ve seen the reports that the Taliban has ordered judges to impose their interpretation of Sharia law. That includes public executions; it includes amputations; it includes floggings. We’ve seen the reports of a public execution today,” the state department spokesperson said during a press briefing.
In August 2021, the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan and enacted laws severely curtailing fundamental rights, especially those of women and girls.
The Taliban have restricted critical reporting, imprisoned, and physically assaulted journalists.
