Afghanistan executes five convicted of gang rape
The execution by hanging came after months of public outcry calling for the death penalty for the 10 men originally accused of raping the women, who were returning from a wedding in Paghman district of Kabul.
Seven of the attackers, captured less than a week after the Aug. 22 incident, were sentenced to death. But a Sept. 7 appeal led to two of the seven being given 20-year prison sentences instead. Three of the suspects remain at large.
Then-President Hamid Karzai had approved and signed the execution order last month on his last day in office, a rare such authorization in his more than decade-long tenure.
Speaking to The Times after the initial convictions, Saeeq Shajjan, a Kabul-based lawyer, called the case “one of those rare instances that has brought people from all walks of life together. Ordinary Afghans, civil society, politicians, senior leadership of the government -- including the presidential palace -- and jihadi leaders have all condemned this evil act.”
Others, however, questioned the judicial procedure that led to the executions.
Shortly after Kabul Police Chief Gen. Zahir Zahir confirmed the deaths at Pol-e Charkhi prison outside Kabul, Amnesty International issued a statement saying the “execution of five men in Afghanistan who had been convicted over a gang rape following a series of flawed trials is an affront to justice.”
Shajjan said that though he commended the police for quick action in capturing the seven accused, the judiciary’s willingness to feed the media’s appetite for information in the case -- including the accused’s identities -- was in contravention of Afghan law.
Along with rape, the accused were tried for impersonating police officers and armed robbery, Shajjan said. This may have added to the pressure for the government, then under the leadership of Karzai, to act swiftly, he added.
Still, he said, “this does not mean rights guaranteed for the accused under the constitution and other laws of Afghanistan should be violated. ... Protecting all rights of the accused does not mean that there should be any leniency toward the accused.”
Wazhma Frogh, a women’s rights activist based in Kabul, agreed.
Speaking to The Times last month, Frogh said though a swift response in such cases is needed, it does little to affect the implementation of a law designed to eliminate violence against women, approved by presidential decree in 2009.
“We still have so many cases of rape pending in the court, and they won't see the same level of reaction nor judicial response,” Frogh said.
Khalil Sherzad, originally from the eastern province of Nangarhar, said the hangings put the minds of many Afghans at ease.
"I am happy. They actually should have been stoned to death, but this is still sufficient," Sherzad said.
But Omaid Sharifi, a civil society activist based in Kabul who opposes capital punishment, said the accused "should have been imprisoned for life. ... Keeping them in prison will force them to sit with their thoughts and truly realize that they have done something wrong."
Latifi is a special correspondent.
The Associated Press contributed to the report.
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