Executions come amid peace process effort

The latest executions of Taliban prisoners in Afghanistan come even as President Hamid Karzai's government seeks to resume peace effort with insurgents. The New York Times reported the Wednesday executions of six Taliban prisoners won support from some of the ethnic groups as being necessary to fight terrorism and crimes, but some influential politicians expressed concern about their impact on the peace effort with the Taliban. The six executed, among a list of 16 such prisoners, were hanged after being convicted of various terrorist acts. The executions, along with eight executed the previous day for various crimes including rape and murder, brought to 14 the number put to death so far. The executions point to Karzai's effort to show his opposition to terrorism even as he seeks to bring the Taliban into his peace effort, the report said. A statement from the council of ministers on the Wednesday executions said, "These criminals trampled Sharia law and the law of the country and have committed horrifying and terrifying crimes against our internal security and against our people." Nasrullah Stanekzai, legal adviser to Karzai, said all steps had been taken to ensure due process, the Times reported. Georgette Gagnon, Afghanistan representative for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, however, pointed to deficiencies in the Afghan judicial proceedings, the report said. The United Nations last year had noted that the Afghan judicial system accepts confessions, including those made torture. The Times said Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid has appealed to rights advocates to protest Wednesday's executions, claiming the executed prisoners were prisoners of war. Earlier Wednesday, a Taliban suicide bomber killed three Afghan private security guards in an attack in Kabul's diplomatic neighborhood. The Human Rights Watch also criticized the executions, with the group's Asia director Brad Adams saying: "President Hamid Karzai should stop future executions and commit to a formal moratorium."