Afghanistan’s Justice System Collapses in 11 Days; Mohammad Farid Hamidi Warns About the Fate of Former Prosecutors

Mohammad Farid Hamidi, the former Attorney General of Afghanistan, said in an article published by Just Security that Afghanistan’s legal and judicial system, which had been rebuilt over two decades,

collapsed in just 11 days after the Taliban returned.

He wrote that in 2016, Afghanistan had about 6,000 prosecutors, only 3 percent of whom were women; but before the withdrawal of American forces, the number of prosecutors increased to 23,000, including 250 women.

According to Hamidi, there are currently no female prosecutors in Afghanistan, and many prosecutors from the previous government have also been persecuted and threatened by the Taliban.

The former Attorney General of the country has claimed that after the Taliban returned to power, they released thousands of prisoners; people who knew who had imprisoned them during the republican era. He added that after that, a wave of “targeted killings” against former prosecutors began.

He said that since the Taliban regained control, 57 former prosecutors and their family members have been killed, and more than 3,800 others are still living in hiding inside Afghanistan, facing severe economic hardship.

Hamidi called on the International Court of Justice and international human rights institutions to use all available legal tools to hold the Taliban accountable. He stressed that the necessary laws and structures exist, but what is lacking is the political will of the international community.

He also called on the United States and other countries to facilitate the safe departure of the remaining prosecutors in Afghanistan, who he said have worked with American and European institutions for years.

The former Afghan attorney general added that UN accountability mechanisms should prioritize collecting evidence related to targeted killings of prosecutors and that the international community should not normalize relations with the Taliban without considering the rights of women and former judicial officials.

The remarks come after Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, previously said that no women are working as judges, prosecutors or defense lawyers in Afghanistan today.

Reporter Shahbanu Noori