Story perspectives

Taliban's New Penal Code: Harsh Punishments and Gender Inequality

2/27/2026

Summary

Story summary

Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban leader, signed a 119-article penal code in Afghanistan.
The 119-article penal code criminalizes dissent, authorizes corporal punishment, enforces gender inequality, and imposes harsher penalties on women who leave home without permission.
The decree permits executions based on vague criteria, punishes domestic violence only minimally, prompts warnings from human rights advocates that these laws normalize violence, and shows a muted international response.

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Story summary

Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban leader, signed a 119-article penal code in Afghanistan.
The 119-article penal code criminalizes dissent, authorizes corporal punishment, enforces gender inequality, and imposes harsher penalties on women who leave home without permission.
The decree permits executions based on vague criteria, punishes domestic violence only minimally, prompts warnings from human rights advocates that these laws normalize violence, and shows a muted international response.