Law on Combat against Terrorist Offenses

This law includes provisions that address accountability and the rights of individuals in the contexts of terrorist offenses. The law applies to offences committed:

• in the territory of Afghanistan;
• against a citizen of Afghanistan or other individuals residing in Afghanistan or against Afghanistan’s interests outside of the country;
• inside or against an aircraft registered in Afghanistan;
• inside or against a ship carrying a flag of Afghanistan;
• inside or against a facility where the diplomatic or other missions of Afghanistan is located or against the facilities belonging to the Government of Afghanistan;
• inside an aircraft registered in Afghanistan and it lands in the territory of Afghanistan while the perpetrator of the offence mentioned in Article (9) of this Law is inside the aircraft; and/or
• against the person mentioned in Article 13 of the law who has a work-related relationship with the Government of Afghanistan.

The law addresses juveniles in one provision (Article 5), which states: “If the offences mentioned in this Law are committed by juveniles, the proceedings to these offences shall be carried out according to the Law on Juvenile Violations.”

This law was criticized, for example, by Human Rights Watch, which stated:

Afghanistan’s Law on Combat against Terrorist Offenses of 2008 defines “support” as “providing financial source [sic], residence, training, shelter, counsel and assistance, falsification of identification, communication equipment, and weapon, chemical, nuclear and other explosive substances, human resources, transportation services and other facilities.” While the law stipulates that the person’s assistance must be intended to “complete the commission of offences,” its overly vague language leaves the interpretation open to abuse.[1]

[1] “In the Name of Security: Counterterrorism Laws Worldwide Since September 11,” Human Rights Watch, June 29, 2012, https://www.hrw.org/report/2012/06/29/name-security/counterterrorism-laws-worldwide-september-11