Afghanistan executions to go on

KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- The government in Afghanistan, where 15 prisoners were executed this week, may not stop the practice despite concerns, it was reported.

The executions, carried out by firing squads Sunday in Kabul, were the first in three years in the country which was freed from Taliban control. The BBC reported the prisoners had been found guilty for such crimes as murder, kidnapping, rape, adultery and armed robbery.

Despite raising concerns, Humayun Hamidzada, spokesman for President Hamid Karzai, said the government was bound by its laws, the BBC reported.

The report quoted the head of Afghanistan's human rights as there had been calls for a re-examination of the cases of the condemned convicts because of alleged shortcomings in original investigations into the charges against them.

While the United Nations said it had supported a moratorium on executions in Afghanistan in recent years, Hamidzada said, “There was no understanding between the United Nations and the Afghan government about executions. The Afghan government is doing what its laws dictate,” the BBC report said.

The spokesman said his government respects the concerns of the international community, but added capital punishment also is carried out in several other countries.