A Man Publicly Executed and a Woman Beaten

AP, December 18, 1998

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Spectators watched at a sports stadium in the capital Kabul as an Afghan man carried out the death penalty on the man who murdered his brother and a woman was beaten for "immoral corruption.''

Abdul Qayyum shot and killed Saeed Naqibullah before the packed crowd. Naqibullah was found guilty of robbing and killing Qayyum's brother.

In keeping with the ruling Taliban army's brand of Islamic law, the relative of a murder victim is allowed to carry out the death penalty.

Before the public execution a woman in an all-enveloping burqa was brought to the center of the field and a young Taliban soldier with a whip beat her 100 times.

The charge, said the Taliban police, was "immoral corruption.'' The woman, whose name was given only as Shahemah, apparently confessed to the crime, which was not detailed.

In the 90 percent of Afghanistan ruled by the Taliban army it is illegal for a woman to fraternize with a man other than a close relative. The punishment is a public beating.

Since taking over Kabul in 1996 the Taliban has imposed a strict Islamic regime and announced dozens of edicts, most of them directed at women.

Women are not allowed to work, go to school or travel outside their home unaccompanied.

After the public beating the woman was taken from the stadium. It wasn't immediately known if she would be freed.

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