US EditionAfghanistan’s new penal code sets 15 days in prison for wife-beating, 5 months for animal fights
The penal code grants only 15 days for severe domestic violence but five months for animal fighting, formalizing gender inequality and class-based punishments, U.N. officials said.
- In January, Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada signed Decree No., a 60-page document of 119 articles establishing Afghanistan's first full penal code.
- The decree codifies gender and social-status inequality into law, placing husbands and heads of households in authority and varying punishments from warnings for scholars to beatings for the lower classes.
- Under the code, a man who causes a visible injury to his wife faces 15 days in prison if proven, while organizers of animal or bird fights face five months and up to 39 lashes are authorized.
- U.N. officials responded by urging Afghan authorities to rescind the decree, with the U.N. Women Special Representative in Afghanistan saying it `formally removes equality between men and women before the law` and the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights calling to `reverse their course on excluding half the population`.
- Beyond domestic-violence rules, the code criminalizes criticism of the Afghan de facto leadership, retains capital offences like murder and insulting the Prophet Muhammad, and punishes women who visit relatives without husband’s permission.
17 Articles
17 Articles
Associated Press News
Afghanistan's new penal code sets 15 days in prison for wife-beating, 5 months for animal fights
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In Afghanistan, the adoption of a new penal code by the Taliban authorities marks a decisive step in the restructuring of the country's legal system. Read more: Afghanistan: A new penal code regulates domestic violence and redefines the legal order Promulgated without parliamentary process or public consultation, the new Afghan penal code clarifies the treatment of domestic violence and redefines several offences related to family and social beh…
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