Case Explained: Taliban Introduce New Criminal Code in Afghanistan – The Diplomat – Legal Perspective

When the last American soldier left Afghanistan in 2021, Western media described it as the end of a long war. Headlines referenced “closure” and “withdrawal,” and Afghanistan soon faded from global news. 

But for Afghans, the war did not end; it only changed. As the world looked away, the Taliban quietly started building a legal system that treats citizens as subjects instead of people.

On January 4, 2026, the Taliban released a new Criminal Procedure Code with 119 articles, 10 chapters, and three sections, sending it to provincial courts to implement. There was no public announcement, national debate, or open process. In short, the Taliban acted like many authoritarian regimes: they changed the rules in secret and expect everyone to follow them.

Rights groups and a handful of journalists working under Taliban restrictions leaked the document. The code is more than a legal document; it acts as a blueprint for an authoritarian system designed to silence dissent, enforce social control, and justify violence under the law.

At first glance, the criminal code appears to be a typical legal framework. But the state’s goal is not to protect citizens, but to control them.

The code takes away basic legal protections that any modern justice system should provide. It does not recognize rights like access to a lawyer, the right to remain silent, or even basic due process. Instead, it focuses on confession and testimony as the main ways to prove crimes but offers no safeguards against forced confessions or coerced testimony.

In a country where intelligence agencies and security forces are often accused of torture and abuse, these risks are not just theoretical. And the new code invites abuse. By insisting on confession as proof, the code effectively gives legal support to coercion.

A member of Rawadari, an Afghan human rights organization, told the media, “This code is not about justice. It is about creating a system where the state can punish anyone, at any time, without explanation.”

The code uses broad language, giving judges and officials a lot of power to decide cases as they wish. Many crimes are not clearly defined, so almost any act can be called a “sin,” “immorality,” or “corruption.” In practice, this allows the Taliban to silence anyone for any reason.

The code clearly separates Afghan society into different classes: religious scholars, elites, the middle class, and the lower class. Each group is treated differently under the law. Punishments depend on a person’s status, which creates inequality and removes the idea of equal protection. As a result, poor and marginalized people can face harsh penalties, while those with power often avoid serious consequences.

“This is not just discrimination,” a rights activist told me. “It is a legal strategy to control society by separating people into groups that can be treated differently.”

The code’s rules about slavery and religious discrimination are especially troubling. Several articles use the word “slave” many times, and the code separates “free” people from “slaves” in legal terms. This marks the legal acceptance of slavery in Afghanistan. International law bans slavery in every form, but the Taliban’s code makes it seem normal, giving the regime another way to control vulnerable groups.

The code also includes religious discrimination. It calls followers of the Hanafi school “true Muslims” and labels people from other sects or beliefs as “innovators” or “heretics.” The code makes it a crime to leave the Hanafi school and punishes those who do. It is a way for the state to repress religious minorities and dissidents. With these laws, freedom of belief and expression cannot exist.

The code gives the Taliban leader sweeping control over life and death. One article reportedly allows the “Imam” to approve executions for people considered “corrupt” or “heretics.” Another allows death sentences for those called “rebels,” saying their actions harm the public and that execution is the only solution.

These rules make political killings seem legal and take away any chance for a fair trial or outside review. The code also makes it a crime not to report “subversive meetings,” pushing people into a system where everyone watches each other out of fear. Communities end up serving the state, and private life fades away under constant suspicion.

“Under this code, neighbors become informants,” a Kabul-based lawyer told me. “You can no longer trust anyone. This is how the Taliban want to rule, through fear and betrayal.”

The code directly affects children and women. It restricts protection from child abuse by only banning violence that causes severe injury, while other types of physical, psychological, and sexual violence are still allowed. Fathers can punish children as young as 10 for missing prayers, which makes corporal punishment and child abuse legal.

Women can be punished for leaving their husband’s home without permission. The law also makes “dancing” and watching dances illegal, but does not explain what counts as dancing, which could lead to unfair arrests and punishment for cultural activities. The code allows the destruction of “places of immorality” without saying what those are, so places like beauty salons, barbershops, and other public spaces could be shut down at any time.

Afghan women say this is not true governance. They see it as a deliberate attempt to weaken civil society.

Human rights groups like Rawadari warn that the code violates basic human rights and fair trial standards. They say that putting the code in place without independent oversight will cause more arbitrary detentions, unlawful punishments, and harsh limits on freedoms.

The international community has paid some attention to the code. Richard Bennett, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, publicly warned that the criminal procedure code could have “extremely concerning” effects for Afghans. In an X post, he said, “Still analyzing the Taliban’s new Criminal Procedure Code, including from a human rights and sharia perspectives, but it is already very clear that the implications for Afghans are extremely concerning.”

Still, international media coverage has been limited and inconsistent. Most outlets now treat Afghanistan as only a humanitarian crisis, not as a political or legal issue. The major legal changes happening there are rarely explored in detail.

Western media now pay more attention to crises that seemingly affect their own direct interests, like Ukraine, Gaza, and the Indo-Pacific. With no foreign troops or direct involvement, Afghanistan no longer makes global headlines. As a result, people have stopped paying attention.

This is a dangerous pattern. The war did not end for the Afghan people. Afghanistan is not slowly returning to normal. Instead, it is being changed into a society where the Taliban rule through fear, inequality, and violence, ignoring human rights and justice.

The world should not ignore Afghanistan. The new criminal code is a warning sign that needs ongoing attention, not silence.