Taliban's New Law Legalizes Slavery in Afghanistan
The Spin
Government-critical narrative
The Taliban's new criminal code explicitly legalizes slavery and creates a rigid class hierarchy where religious scholars receive polite notifications while the poor face beatings and lashes for the same offenses. This theocratic system divides citizens into Muslims and non-Muslims, free people and slaves, men and women, granting husbands and masters legal authority to punish those beneath them. The document proves that any sharia-based legal framework inevitably produces institutionalized inequality and human bondage.
Pro-government narrative
The Criminal Code follows established Sharia and Hanafi jurisprudence that has existed in Afghan courts long before the current government, with fixed punishments applying equally to everyone regardless of status. Critics misunderstand that this procedural code for courts differs fundamentally from a constitution, and their objections stem from ignorance rather than legitimate legal analysis. Opposing these laws means opposing Islamic law itself, which is impermissible and constitutes a prosecutable crime.