Executed at 8 - Taliban's shocking death penalty regime

(Info from The Age, June 24th 2010) - The Taliban has executed an eight-year-old boy who was accused of "collaborating" with foreign forces.
'Islam does not permit anyone to sentence a minor to execution,'' said Mawlawi Mehr Del, deputy head of the Muslim clerical council in Helmand. ''It is against Islam, against sharia. God may be extremely upset with them. Those who do something like this are neither jihadis nor Taliban, they are enemies of human life.''

It is illegal under islamic law to execute anyone under the age of 18. Even in the Taliban's own code of conduct which was drawn up by the movement two years ago, no commander may order the execution of minors. And, surely, any person other than Satan himself should be aware that executing 7 and 8 year old children is evil.

Senior Taliban member Mullah Abdul Bari disagrees, apparently, suggesting that the code of conduct does not apply in Helmand because "the number of infidels there has increased, and the Taliban don't have time to hold trials". Basically, therefore, local commanders in Helmand province can do as they please to people accused of spying.

The eight-year old was named Delawar. He was executed in a garden near his home in the village of Heratian in the Sangin district of Helmand. Accused of spying for British forces, the boy is reported to have screamed for his parents before the group of approximately 12 militants put the rope around his neck and hanged him.

The child's father, Abdul Quddus, initially reported that the Taliban had killed his son but now claims "ghosts" did it, and won't talk further. Of course he won't. If they'll hang an eight-year-old child, what do you think they'd do to a man who got them in trouble?

Worse still, the child's grandfather Naqubullah claims the boy was only hanged (under the pretext of spying) because the boy's father was too poor to pay the $US600 which local Taliban commanders tried to extort from him the day before the hanging.

This comes only a fortnight after the reported June 8th Taliban execution of a seven-year-old child for supposedly spying for the government, also in the Helmand province.

During a news conference the Afgan President Hamid Karzai told that officials were looking into reports of the execution, and said he condemned the act if it is confirmed to be true, calling it "a crime against humanity."

Newly elected British Prime Minister David Cameron said during a news conference in Kabul: "If this is true, it is an absolutely horrific crime. If true, I think it says more about the Taliban than any book, than any article, than any speech could ever say."


"Horrific" doesn't do it justice in my opinion. There are no words strong enough to trully express how sickening this is. Seven and eight years old. How can that be justice?