However, following the 2021 Taliban offensive, fears of reprisal including death for those suspected of homosexuality were renewed. No known death sentences for homosexuality have been passed since the end of Taliban rule in 2001. The Hanafi school, prevalent in Afghanistan, does not regard homosexual acts as a hadd crime, although Afghan judges may potentially apply the death penalty for a number of reasons.
The sharia category of zina (illicit sexual intercourse), which according to some traditional Islamic legal schools may entail the hadd (sharia-prescribed) punishment of stoning, when strict evidential requirements are met. Sources cited by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGBTIA) indicate that there is a 'broad consensus amongst scholars that execution was the appropriate punishment if homosexual acts could be proven'.
A new Penal Code enacted in February 2018 explicitly criminalises same-sex sexual conduct. Further information: LGBT rights by country or territory, LGBT in Islam, Capital punishment for adultery, and Sharia § IslamizationĪs of July 2020, the following jurisdictions prescribe the death penalty for homosexuality: