VANCOUVER, CANADA – The Taliban Supreme Court announced that a man and a woman were publicly flogged in Ghazni. According to the newsletter, the man and woman, accused of “escaping from home” were tried by the local court in Jaghuri district, and were punished today.
The man and woman had been sentenced to one year and six months of imprisonment and 35 lashes in public.
The Taliban Supreme Court also announced in another newsletter that the Taliban flogged another person in Kabul city on charges of “sodomy”. The man l was flogged yesterday, May 13, based on the verdict of the First District Criminal Court of Kabul City.
The Taliban Supreme Court has said that the person received 39 lashes and has also been sentenced to two years of in prison.
Human rights organizations consider physical punishment and execution of accused individuals contrary to international laws and human dignity and call for its cessation. Amnesty International called on the Taliban last year to cease the “criminal act” of public flogging as well as any other types of physical punishment.
“The public flogging of women and men is a cruel and shocking return to out-and-out hardline practices by the Taliban. It violates the absolute prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment under international law and should not be carried out under any circumstances.”
Despite all criticism, flogging and public execution under Taliban rule have become a daily routine.
Last week, on May 8, the Taliban announced that four individuals were flogged in public on charges of selling “alcohol” and “ K-tablets” in Badakhshan province.
Similarly, on May 4, they announced that one person was publicly flogged on charges of “moral corruption” in Wazi Khwah district of Paktika province and two individuals were flogged on charges of “theft” in Qush Tepa district of Jowzjan province.
In almost all cases, the accused are sentenced to imprisonment in addition to flogging.
On March 1, four men were also flogged in Parwan province on charges of “highway robbery”. The Taliban court said that each of these individuals was lashed 39 times and was also sentenced to six years of imprisonment.
This group has also executed five individuals in public in Farah, Laghman, Ghazni, and Jowzjan provinces so far.
