KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban has publicly flogged two individuals on charges of “adultery” in the capital Kabul and five individuals on charges of “sodomy” in southern Kandahar province in the past two days.
The Taliban Supreme Court announced in a newsletter on Thursday, March 28, that its authorities had subjected two people to public flogging with 35 lashes each.
Meanwhile, Local sources reported that the Taliban’s provincial authorities in southern Kandahar province publicly flogged five individuals on charges of “sodomy” in Arghandab district on Wednesday, March 27.
According to local sources, the regime’s local authorities also sentenced these five individuals to two years in prison.
Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban has made public corporal punishment a central part of its penal system.
After retaking power in Afghanistan, the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, declared that they would impose a strict version of sharia law including public executions, stoning, floggings and the amputation of limbs for thieves.
Since then, the regime publicly flogged dozens of people, including women and LGBT+ people, in the provinces of Kabul, Herat, Bayman, Sar-e Pol, Balkh, Farah, and Laghman on the charges of “relationship outside marriage, immorality, sodomy, and adultery.”
Two day ago, on March 26, the Taliban Supreme Court announced that it had given a person 30 lashes in western Farah province on the charges of “Lawat”, referring to sexual relations between two men. The Taliban court has also sentenced the individual to six months in prison.
Subsequently, Rainbow Afghanistan, a Germany-based organization advocating for the rights of LGBT+ individuals in Afghanistan, disclosed that the individual was a member of the LGBT+ community. The organization pointed out that the regime has carried out several cases of retribution against LGBT+ people over the past two years.
The organization criticized the UN and the international community for their silence and disregard of the “unfortunate situation” of the highly vulnerable LGBT+ community in Afghanistan. It argued that this lack of action has fueled the Taliban’s crimes against LGBT+ people in the country.
However, in a newly released audio clip of the Taliban leader, he stresses the use of corporal punishment, particularly beating and stoning women in public. He said that they would continue to implement strict Sharia law in Afghanistan.
Hibatullah argues that the implementation of Sharia law in Afghanistan might not be favorable to Western countries or Western democracy. He emphasizes his intention to punish people for adultery, which includes publicly stoning and flogging women.
“The enforcement of Allah’s Hudud contradicts your democracy, you may debate our action,” Hibatullah said. “Just as you strive to save and liberate humanity, so do I. You represent Satan, and I represent God. As Allah says, ‘The party of Allah will prevail,’” he added.
The Taliban act of physically and publicly punishing individuals has drawn significant criticism from the UN and human rights organizations. But the regime justifies its actions by stating that they are adhering to Islamic punishment laws.
Last year, the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) criticized the Taliban’s use of corporal punishment as a violation of international law, saying it broke “the prohibition on torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment”.
According to UNAMA, 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, with some cases enduring 80-100 lashes.
Additionally, the Taliban has also continued to carry out public executions of individuals on various charges. The regime has publicly executed at least five people in the country over the past two years.
“We urge the de facto authorities to establish an immediate moratorium on any further executions, and to act swiftly to prohibit use of the death penalty in its entirety,” UNAMA said.
