KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban Supreme Court announced that its authorities had subjected 10 people, including two women, to public flogging. These individuals were charged with “adultery, sodomy, and immorality.”
In a newsletter released by the Supreme Court of the regime, the flogging sentences were carried out in Maidan Wardak province on Wednesday, March 6, in the presence of Taliban authorities and the public.
The Taliban have doubled down on its practice of corporal punishments, including public execution, flogging and stoning.
Speaking at the gathering, according to the newsletter, the head of the Taliban primary court in Maidan Wardak, Mawlawi Abdul Karim Haqqani stated that, “Hudud and retribution are manifestations of God’s mercy, and their implementation brings about peace and happiness.”
According to Mr. Haqqani, the implementation of such punishments would result in a decrease in the rate of incidents and the cessation of criminal activities.
He emphasized that the Taliban would continue to carry out these types of punishments in the future.
Shortly after coming to power, the Taliban, despite initial promises of a more moderate rule, began carrying out severe punishments in public. These included executions, floggings, and stoning, similar to those during their previous stint in power in the late 1990s.
Recently, the Taliban publicly flogged dozens of people, including women, in the provinces of Kabul, Herat, Bayman, Sar-e Pol, Balkh, and Laghman on the charges of “relationship outside marriage, immorality, and adultery.”
Last month, the Taliban authorities in Ghazni province publicly executed two men accused of murder. The Taliban supreme court stated that the execution of these two men was authorized by Hibatullah Akhundzada, the regime’s supreme leader.
The act of physically and publicly punishing individuals by the Taliban has drawn significant criticism from human rights organizations. But the regime justifies its actions as adherence to Islamic Sharia laws.
The United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR), UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and Amnesty International have recently voiced concerns regarding the ongoing implementation of corporal punishment in Afghanistan. They have called on the Taliban to immediately halt such punishments.
Human rights groups say that the Taliban courts do not adhere to fair trial procedures and standard legal practices, with accused individuals denied the right to legal representation for their defense in these courts.
In a report last year, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented the use of several forms of corporal punishment by the Taliban. The report found that the Taliban has used a variety of forms of corporal punishment, including lashings, stoning, beatings, forcing people to stand in cold water, and forced head shaving.
The report highlighted that within a span of just six months, a total of 276 men, 58 women, and two boys were publicly flogged, receiving up to 40 lashes per convicted person, but 80-100 lashes in some cases.
The UNAMA called the Taliban’s use of corporal punishment a violation of international law, saying that it violated “the prohibition on torture and cruel, inhuman and degraded treatment or punishment.”
