Christians in Afghanistan are at risk of a “genocide” according to Martin Parsons, an expert in religious freedom and Islamic extremism and former aid worker to the country.
Writing for The Critic, Parsons spoke of his experiences in the 1990s following the first takeover of power by the Taliban. Christians who refused to renounce their faith were routinely executed, music was banned as unislamic and allegedly immoral women were killed and thrown into rivers.
Five years ago, after two decades of insurgency, the Taliban returned to power as US forces withdrew from Afghanistan, bringing down the government established after the 2001 US-led invasion.
This second incarnation of the Taliban has, according to Parsons, been less brutal and more concerned with international acceptance. Nevertheless, Christians remain in substantial danger, he argues.
Of particular concern is the Taliban’s apostasy law, which states that a sane adult male who converts from Islam will be given three days to “repent” or face execution. Women who commit the same crime are to be held in prison for life and subject to regular beatings. Children will be held until they reach maturity, at which point they will face the relevant punishment.
Many Islamic countries have draconian laws against conversion away from Islam. Such laws usually make a distinction between converts and born Christians. In Iran, for example, it is not illegal to be a Christian, but conversion from Islam to Christianity officially carries the death sentence.
It is believed that there are around 10,000 Christians in Afghanistan, but according to Parsons, they are in considerable danger due.
“Christians are uniquely vulnerable because, unlike other religious minorities, their existence was never acknowledged by any of the Western-backed governments that existed between the Taliban being ousted in 2001 and their return in 2021," he said.
“That has allowed the Taliban to deny the existence of Afghan Christians and treat any they find as apostates from Islam, even though many are actually second or third generation Christians.”
The only thing preventing the Sword of Damocles from falling on Afghanistan’s Christians is an apparent division within the Taliban leadership between those who want to go back to the 90s and those who desire a certain level of acceptance.
“Whilst some Afghans have been executed for apostasy and there is evidence of extra-judicial killing of Christians, as far as we can tell there has not so far been any large scale killing of Christians as apostates. In fact, on a number of occasions the Taliban appeal court has actually commuted sentences of execution for religious offences down to terms of imprisonment," he wrote.
“This appears to reflect a power struggle between the bulk of the Taliban who regard it as self-evident that the hudud penalty for apostasy should be applied and a section of the Taliban leadership, who want to hold off on doing so for now. The latter are prepared to countenance delaying this aspect of shari’a enforcement so as not to jeopardise the possibility of Western recognition of the Taliban as a legitimate government.”
In the meantime, the Taliban has been gathering us much data as it can on the country’s Christians - who they are, where they live, who they know - the fear being that the day will come when they use this to crackdown even harder.
Parsons referred to a textbook known as the Hedaya, which is commonly used in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which along with many other Islamic materials, justifies the enslavement of non-Muslims.
“The clear statement in the Hedaya and Taliban decrees that those deemed apostates should be killed, almost certainly provides the necessary evidence of intention. So, yes, Afghan Christians are at risk of genocide”, Parsons argued.
