GENEVA / KABUL — In a move that has sparked international outrage, Afghanistan’s de facto leadership has issued a comprehensive new penal code that mandates harsher punishments for the mistreatment of animals than for domestic violence against women. The 60-page document, known as Decree No. 12, was signed by Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada in January and has been condemned by the United Nations for codifying gender inequality and systemic social discrimination into law.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk addressed the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday, urging the Afghan authorities to immediately rescind the decree. Comprised of 119 articles, the new penal code represents the first full legal framework of its kind since the current government took power in 2021. Turk highlighted that the decree “legitimizes violence against women and children” by allowing heads of households to determine and administer punishments within their own homes, effectively removing the state’s role in protecting vulnerable citizens from domestic abuse.
The disparity in sentencing is one of the most striking features of the new code. Under the decree, a man who beats his wife severely enough to cause a visible wound or bruise faces a maximum of 15 days in prison—and only then if the wife can successfully prove the assault to a judge. In contrast, any individual found engaging in or organizing animal or bird fighting, such as cockfights, is subject to a five-month prison sentence. Furthermore, a woman who visits her relatives or stays at her father’s house without her husband’s permission faces three months in prison, a penalty that also applies to the relatives who fail to return her.
Beyond gender-based discrimination, the penal code formalizes a hierarchical justice system based on social status. The decree outlines varying degrees of punishment for the same crimes depending on the offender’s class. High-ranking individuals, scholars, and tribal leaders are generally met with warnings or court summons, whereas those deemed part of the “lower classes” are subject to physical beatings and public lashings. UN Women Special Representative Susan Ferguson stated that the code “formally removes equality before the law,” placing husbands in absolute authority and stripping women of their ability to seek justice.
The decree also criminalizes any criticism of the leadership or their policies, which Turk described as a flagrant violation of the rights to freedom of expression and assembly. While most offences follow a tiered punishment system, the death penalty remains the mandatory sentence for murder and for insulting the Prophet Muhammad, though the latter can be converted to six years in prison if the offender expresses repentance. As the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan continues to draw global scrutiny, this new legal framework signals a further entrenchment of policies that exclude women from public life and dismantle international legal standards.
