Afghanistan under the Taliban has drawn sharp criticism after the regime issued a new “Criminal Procedure Code for Courts”, a 119-article document that rights groups say institutionalises inequality, legitimises violence and revives slavery-like legal categories. The code, signed and circulated earlier this month, has alarmed Afghan civil society groups, former officials and international observers, who argue that it formally divides society into rigid classes and places religious elites beyond the reach of meaningful punishment.
According to human rights organisation Rawadari, the new code explicitly categorises Afghan society into four hierarchical classes, with religious scholars or mullahs at the top, followed by elites, the middle class and the lower class. Punishment for the same offence now varies depending not on the gravity of the crime but on the social status of the accused. Under Article 9, clerics who commit crimes are to be “advised”, elites may receive summons and advice, while middle- and lower-class individuals face imprisonment, with the poorest also subjected to corporal punishment.
Critics say this framework grants near-immunity to clerics and entrenches discrimination by law. Rawadari has warned that the code violates core principles of equality before the law, proportionality in sentencing and presumption of innocence. Former Afghan officials have described the document as a legal system designed to protect the powerful while exposing the poor to harsher and often violent penalties.
The code has also sparked outrage for explicitly recognising slavery as a legal category. It repeatedly uses the term “ghulam” (slave) when describing criminal liability and punishment. Article 15 states that discretionary punishments apply “whether the criminal is free or a slave”, while other provisions allow punishments to be carried out not only by judges but also by “masters” or husbands. Rights groups say this gives legal sanction to slavery-like conditions and domestic violence, particularly affecting women and children.
Observers have also highlighted provisions that effectively permit physical punishment so long as it does not result in bone fractures or torn skin, a threshold critics say normalises everyday violence. Afghan media outlets have reported that even parents are implicitly permitted to physically punish children for acts such as missing prayers, reinforcing fears that abuse is being normalised under religious justification.
Opposition groups such as the National Resistance Front have likened the system to a caste-based hierarchy, arguing that the Taliban have replaced equality before the law with a status-based order that mirrors slavery and feudal privilege. Former Attorney General Mohammad Farid Hamidi described the code as “a document proclaiming the conviction of all citizens”, calling it an open assault on human dignity and a grave violation of basic human worth.
The formalisation of such practices marks a shift from informal brutality to legally codified repression under the Taliban, led by Hibatullah Akhundzada. Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have increasingly embedded their harsh interpretations of Islamic law into decrees and judicial processes, including public executions and sweeping bans on women’s education, work and expression.
International concern has continued to grow. The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan has described the implications of the code as deeply troubling, noting that it conflicts with international prohibitions on slavery, torture and discrimination. Rights bodies have urged the United Nations and other international mechanisms to press for the immediate suspension and repeal of the code.
Taken together, critics argue, the new Criminal Procedure Code does not merely reflect conservative ideology but legally entrenches fear, hierarchy and violence as tools of governance. By dividing society into unequal classes and granting religious elites effective immunity, the Taliban have, in the words of rights advocates, moved further away from any notion of justice rooted in equality or human dignity.
