Taliban Legalises Slavery In Afghanistan, Makes Mullahs Immune

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Kabul: The Taliban-run Afghan government has enacted a new Criminal Procedure Code that formally introduces a class-based justice system, placing religious clerics above the law while subjecting poorer Afghans to harsher punishments.

Signed by Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and issued earlier this month, the code divides society into rigid social categories, with penalties determined by social status rather than the severity of the crime. Under the law, religious scholars may face only “advice” for offences, while members of lower classes can be subjected to imprisonment and corporal punishment for the same acts.

Human rights organisations warn that the legislation effectively grants immunity to clerics and elites while exposing marginalised groups to violence and abuse. The code also contains provisions that legitimise practices long banned under international law, including references to slavery — described as “ghulami” — and distinctions between “free persons” and “slaves.”

Critics say the law also permits spousal violence, endorses corporal punishment such as flogging, and allows severe penalties for vaguely defined offences including alleged heresy, moral violations, and women’s movement without male permission.

Rights groups argue the code dismantles basic legal safeguards, eliminating protections such as the right to legal counsel and due process, and relies heavily on confessions and testimony, increasing the risk of coerced admissions.

International observers say the new law marks a sharp escalation in Afghanistan’s legal regression, embedding discrimination, violence, and religious hierarchy into the country’s justice system.