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Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Australia China India Indonesia Japan Malaysia Philippines Thailand Vietnam Search Search: Afghans pushing for a return to public execution AFP - 1 hour 49 minutes ago KABUL (AFP) - - Afghans, encouraged by President Hamid Karzai's decision to execute seven convicted criminals this month, are calling for a return to Taliban-era public executions to deal with a surge in crime. Rights groups and some of the governments funding post-Taliban Afghanistan recoiled at the executions, the first batch in a year, saying shortcomings in the notoriously inefficient and corrupt judicial system cast doubt on the legitimacy of trials. But Afghans wholeheartedly welcomed them, with one newspaper praising the move in an editorial entitled "Thank you, Mr. President." A council of women in the capital late last month called on Karzai to go one step further and have death sentences -- usually by firing squad or hanging -- carried out in public, as they were under the 1996-2001 Taliban regime. The president said at the time this was not something he would support. But at the weekend he told reporters he would consider public executions for those behind an acid attack on schoolgirls in the southern city of Kandahar last week. If advised by the Supreme Court and religious clerics, "I will accept public execution so people can see those who have carried out such barbaric acts... are executed in front of the world's eyes," he said. Meanwhile the religious council for provinces in western Afghanistan last week issued a statement calling for, among other things, public executions "as a lesson" to criminals. This would "put horror and fear in the hearts of criminals and those who plan crime, and crime will decrease," the council's spokesman, Farooq Hussaini, explained to AFP. A preacher at a prominent mosque in the capital and a lecturer at Kabul University, Aiaz Niazai, said Afghanistan needed the death penalty now more than ever. The Koran says executions should take place in "a gathering of people" so people learn from the punishment and are assured that the crime will not happen again, he said. That such executions were carried out by the Taliban does not necessarily make them wrong, the cleric said. "We do not count everything the Taliban did as negative," he told AFP. Public executions also reassure people that the right person is punished for a crime, said Kabul resident Mohammed Naiem. "If they are hidden, as Karzai says they should be, it is possible for it to be carried out on someone who is against the government or for another political issue," he said. Government employee Ahmad Zia said the future of Afghanistan depended on strict punishment with its people "volatile" after 30 years of war and suffering from high levels of illiteracy. "Yes, 100 percent they should be punished in front of people," he said. "This is so others should learn and stop bad works. With hidden executions only some people might even know that it has even happened." Zia acknowledged there may be failings in the judicial system and said the courts should not be able to judge on political cases as they were not independent. Deputy Justice Minister Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai would not be drawn on public executions or allegations of weaknesses in the system but said the death penalty was necessary in a place like Afghanistan. "In a country where 90 percent of the population is illiterate, this is a lesson for those involved in committing crime," he told AFP. "The international community understands the rate of crime, especially abduction, murder and terrorism, is going up day by day," he said. About 120 more sentences of capital punishment were awaiting Karzai's final go-ahead, Hashimzai said. The United Nations, European Union and Norway have condemned the recent executions, with the UN's top human rights official, Navi Pillay, saying there was a grave risk that innocent people may be put to death. Amnesty International has called for the government to commute the outstanding death sentences and impose a moratorium. Karzai is trying to "bolster his popularity among the Afghan people who increasingly complain of rising criminality and the government's failure to impose the rule of law," Asia Pacific director Sam Zarifi said in a statement. There was no indication the death penalty was a deterrent anywhere in the world, he told AFP. Zarifi also questioned why some people were punished whereas others, including those said to be involved in more organised crimes, were not. "There is strong suspicion in Afghanistan that behind every kidnapping and certainly in the drugs trade there are high-level people in government," he said. "It is quite telling that we have yet to see a single high-level drug smuggler put on trial. It is interesting that we have not seen any of the errant police chiefs or militia leaders being investigated. "That would send a much stronger signal to the people of Afghanistan than the public execution of a handful of criminals." Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Recommend this article Average (0 votes) Sign in to recommend this article » Most Recommended Stories » Related Articles: Asia Pacific US food and drug watchdog sets up in ChinaAFP - 8 minutes ago SKorea in new bid to halt anti-Pyongyang leafletsAFP - 13 minutes ago RPT-GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks sag as US auto woes stir cautionReuters - 19 minutes ago Tear gas used on axe-wielding rioters in China: witnessesAFP - 20 minutes ago Japan beefs up security after deadly attacksAP - 34 minutes ago Enlarge Photo Afghans pushing for a return to public execution Most Popular – Asia Pacific Viewed Citigroup to slash 50,000 jobs, expenses worldwide Exercise, sleep cuts cancer risk: study US economy faces 'catastrophic collapse' without auto bailout: GM Obama and McCain pledge 'new era of reform' Acinetobacter is emerging hospital superbug: study View Complete List » Search: Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular

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