KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban has publicly flogged 15 individuals on various charges in the southern provinces of Zabul and Helmand over the past two days.
The Taliban Supreme Court announced on Monday the public flogging of 12 individuals in Zabul province on charges including adultery, attempted murder, attempted abduction of a woman, and theft.
According to the court, these individuals received between 20 and 39 lashes each, and eight of them were also sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to six years.
The court stated that the punishment was attended by local Taliban authorities and residents of the province.
In a statement today, the court announced the public flogging of three individuals in Helmand province on charges of theft. According to the statement, the men received 30 lashes and were sentenced to eight months in prison.
Since their return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban has made corporal punishment a central element of its penal system. Since then, the regime has publicly flogged hundreds of men and women in sports stadiums across the country.
Over the past three years, hundreds of people across Afghanistan, including women and members of the LGBT+ community, have been publicly flogged or had body parts amputated for crimes such as adultery, sodomy, and theft.
The UN and international human rights organizations have condemned the Taliban’s use of corporal punishment and public executions, highlighting that these practices are prohibited under international human rights law and calling for their immediate cessation.
The Taliban, however, has ignored international criticism and calls to end corporal punishment. Its leader has emphasized the continuation of these practices, saying that he is enforcing Sharia law in Afghanistan.
