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Harsh public justice and private despair reign in Taliban-ruled Herat
In Herat in western Afghanistan, the Taliban has put corpses on display to deter crime
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Harsh public justice and private despair reign in Taliban-ruled Herat
In the city in western Afghanistan, the Taliban has put corpses on display to deter crime.
washingtonpost.com
In the city in western Afghanistan, the Taliban has put corpses on display to deter crime.
washingtonpost.com
Asia & Pacific
Harsh public justice and private despair reign in Taliban-ruled Herat
People look up at a body put on display by the Taliban in the main square of Herat, Afghanistan, on Sept. 29. (AP)
By Pamela Constable
Today at 6:00 a.m. EDT
HERAT, Afghanistan — For three days and nights, the bodies of four accused kidnappers dangled from construction cranes — three of them hoisted high above a prettily painted traffic plaza — for all the citizenry to see. After dark, when the desert winds whistled through the streets, witnesses said, the bloodied figures swayed.
“It was horrible,” said Ahmad Azizi, 42, as he swept out a market near the plaza Sunday, one week after the grim display was erected by Taliban authorities. “It brought back all the dark days again. I cannot say what is in my heart, but I remember those days, and I hope they are not coming back.”
“It made me happy,” said Daoud Feroz, 24, who was selling phone cards in a booth nearby. “Crime has been terrible here for so long, and someone had to take action to control it. Last month a man pointed a gun at my head and stole my motorbike. Now the criminals are going to be scared.”
On Tuesday, in a second gruesome display intended to deter crime, the corpses of three alleged robbers were hanged high from towering excavation shovels in the Obe district of Herat province. Taliban officials said the men were killed after an attempted home theft. Photos in local media showed them hanging from the neck.
The revival of such grisly public deterrents, which the previous Taliban regime used to quash street crime and warlord brigandry in the late 1990s, has elicited both praise and foreboding among the inhabitants of this ancient city of 600,000 near the border with Iran, long known as a center of artistry, learning and trade.
{snip}
By Pamela Constable
Pamela Constable is a staff writer for The Washington Post's foreign desk. She completed a tour as Afghanistan/Pakistan bureau chief in 2019, and has reported extensively from Latin America, South Asia and around the world since the 1980s. Twitter https://twitter.com/pamconstable1
Harsh public justice and private despair reign in Taliban-ruled Herat
People look up at a body put on display by the Taliban in the main square of Herat, Afghanistan, on Sept. 29. (AP)
By Pamela Constable
Today at 6:00 a.m. EDT
HERAT, Afghanistan — For three days and nights, the bodies of four accused kidnappers dangled from construction cranes — three of them hoisted high above a prettily painted traffic plaza — for all the citizenry to see. After dark, when the desert winds whistled through the streets, witnesses said, the bloodied figures swayed.
“It was horrible,” said Ahmad Azizi, 42, as he swept out a market near the plaza Sunday, one week after the grim display was erected by Taliban authorities. “It brought back all the dark days again. I cannot say what is in my heart, but I remember those days, and I hope they are not coming back.”
“It made me happy,” said Daoud Feroz, 24, who was selling phone cards in a booth nearby. “Crime has been terrible here for so long, and someone had to take action to control it. Last month a man pointed a gun at my head and stole my motorbike. Now the criminals are going to be scared.”
On Tuesday, in a second gruesome display intended to deter crime, the corpses of three alleged robbers were hanged high from towering excavation shovels in the Obe district of Herat province. Taliban officials said the men were killed after an attempted home theft. Photos in local media showed them hanging from the neck.
The revival of such grisly public deterrents, which the previous Taliban regime used to quash street crime and warlord brigandry in the late 1990s, has elicited both praise and foreboding among the inhabitants of this ancient city of 600,000 near the border with Iran, long known as a center of artistry, learning and trade.
{snip}
By Pamela Constable
Pamela Constable is a staff writer for The Washington Post's foreign desk. She completed a tour as Afghanistan/Pakistan bureau chief in 2019, and has reported extensively from Latin America, South Asia and around the world since the 1980s. Twitter https://twitter.com/pamconstable1
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