In the shadows of Kabul, a chilling new reality has taken root.
The Taliban has quietly enacted a sweeping criminal code that explicitly legalizes slavery and authorizes husbands to beat their wives, embedding what legal experts describe as systematic violence into Afghan law.
The 119-article Criminal Procedure Code, signed by Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada on January 7, 2026, formally divides Afghan society into “free persons and slaves,” marking the return of a status absolutely prohibited under international law.
