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 un-Islamic, and allegedly immoral women were killed and thrown into rivers.
Five years ago, after two decades of insurgency, the Taliban returned to power as the Biden administration hastily ordered U.S. forces to withdraw from Afghanistan, bringing down the government established after the 2001 U.S.-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.
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 from Islam. Such laws usually make a distinction between converts and born Christians. In Iran, for example, it's not illegal to be a Christian, but conversion from Islam to Christianity officially carries the death sentence.
It's believed that there are around 10,000 Christians in Afghanistan, but according to Parsons, they're in considerable danger.
“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.
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's appeal court has actually commuted sentences of execution for religious offenses down to terms of imprisonment," he wrote.
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