Afghanistan
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- theocracy
- CONSTITUTION
- new, signed on January 16, 2004 (based on the one from 1964); suspended by the Taliban in 2021
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- the Taliban are applying their interpretation of Islamic law, which is partly based on the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- the Taliban government has not announced the formation of a legislative body
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Supreme Court and many provincial courts, religious courts and specialized courts
RELIGIONS
Muslim 99.7% (Sunnis 84.7 - 89.7%, Shia 10 - 15%), other <0.3% (2009 est.)
From the country
- JANUARY 1, 2002AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Afghanistan has an interim administration which was...
Afghanistan has an interim administration which was inaugurated on 22 December 2001 and which is due to govern for six months
- JANUARY 1, 2002AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
The Taliban staged so many public executions during...
The Taliban staged so many public executions during their five years in power that Supreme Court Judge Zalmai Payeda lost count
- DECEMBER 23, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human...
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Kamal Hossain, expressed concern over the death and summary execution of prisoners in Afghanistan
- DECEMBER 22, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Afghanistan has an interim administration which was...
Afghanistan has an interim administration which was inaugurated on 22 December 2001 and which is due to govern for six months
- DECEMBER 21, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Kenton Keith, a spokesman for the US-led coalition...
Kenton Keith, a spokesman for the US-led coalition in Aghanistan said Washington would seek bin Laden's extradition if he was found in Afghanistan, Pakistan or elsewhere
- DECEMBER 21, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
John Walker, the American Taleban fighter, admitted...
John Walker, the American Taleban fighter, admitted that he joined Arab mercenaries financed by Osama bin Laden and attended a training camp run by the al-Qaeda leader
- DECEMBER 16, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Gul Agha Shirzai, the new governor of Kandahar, according...
Gul Agha Shirzai, the new governor of Kandahar, according to multiple accounts, ordered the summary execution of foreign-born Taliban soldiers captured in the last month
- DECEMBER 14, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
The Taliban staged so many public executions during...
The Taliban staged so many public executions during their five years in power that Supreme Court Judge Zalmai Payeda lost count
- DECEMBER 12, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Spectral but alive, more than a thousand prisoners...
Spectral but alive, more than a thousand prisoners of the Taliban emerged from a Kandahar jail with tales of torture, starvation and executions inflicted by guards who have since been allowed to join the new administration
- DECEMBER 9, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Osama bin Laden would be handed to the Americans if...
Osama bin Laden would be handed to the Americans if he was captured alive in Afghanistan, Downing Street revealed
- DECEMBER 7, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Nine men who lived in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan...
Nine men who lived in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan have been convicted at the Old Bailey [London's main criminal court] of hijacking a jet and flying it to Stansted airport
- DECEMBER 6, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
The last victim of the Taliban was Abdullah, 28, from...
The last victim of the Taliban was Abdullah, 28, from Kandahar, a poet who became a soldier and a father of three