In a move that has sparked a wave of widespread human rights criticism, Afghanistan’s Taliban government has enacted a new criminal law that allows men to beat their wives and children unless it results in broken bones or open wounds, placing domestic violence in the category of “discretionary sentences” rather than classifying it as a criminal offence.
60 pages of legal documents and the signature of the Supreme Leader
The new 60-page criminal code was signed by the movement’s top leader, Hebatullah Akhundzadeh, and was circulated to courts across the country, The Telegraph said.
The article gives husbands the right to beat their wives and children as long as they do not leave “significant visible consequences” such as broken bones, a legal formulation that observers believe greatly expands the possibilities for justifying violence, although it is difficult to prove that it has exceeded acceptable limits.
Formal penalties and near-impossible conditions
The law provides that the maximum penalty for proven serious injury is no more than 15 days in prison. However, the wording of the provision makes meeting this condition so complicated that it empties the text of any real deterrent effect.
The law also does not include explicit protections against physical, psychological, or sexual violence, nor does it provide a practical mechanism for victims to submit safe or independent complaints.
Procedures that restrict rather than protect victims
The law requires women who wish to press charges to appear before a male judge fully covered and accompanied by a male “guardian,” who may often be the same husband accused of assault, complicating the legal process and limiting the ability of victims to bring their cases freely.
Criminalize flight from violence
Most controversially, the law punishes women who seek refuge in their parents’ homes to escape violence with up to three months in prison, and imposes similar penalties on family members who protect them, a measure that human rights activists see as tightening the stranglehold on potential safe havens for abused women.
The law comes amid a series of decisions taken by regime authorities since returning to power, amid mounting international criticism over the situation of women and human rights in the country.
In a move that has sparked widespread human rights criticism, Afghanistan’s Taliban government has promulgated a new criminal law that allows men to beat their wives and children as long as they do not cause broken bones or open wounds, placing domestic violence in the category of “discretionary sentences” rather than classifying it as a criminal offence.
60-page legal document signed by the Supreme Leader
The new 60-page criminal code was signed by the movement’s top leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, and was circulated to courts across the country, The Telegraph said.
The article, which gives husbands the right to physically discipline their wives and children as long as it does not leave “significant visible consequences” such as broken bones, is a legal formulation that observers believe greatly expands the possibilities for justifying violence, although it is difficult to prove that permissible limits have been exceeded.
Formal penalties and near-impossible conditions
The law states…
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