KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Taliban authorities have publicly flogged six people in Afghanistan’s northern Sar-e-Pol province amid a recent increase in corporal punishment across the country.
The Taliban Supreme Court announced that these individuals were lashed in public on Thursday, September 19, on charges of “illicit relationships” and “adultery.”
According to the Taliban’s announcement, these individuals received between 29 to 39 lashes each, with three of them also sentenced to imprisonment ranging from six months to three years.
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.
In recent weeks, there have been increasing reports of public flogging across Afghanistan. Since the beginning of this week, such reports have emerged daily, with Taliban authorities publicly punishing Afghan citizens primarily on charges the regime describes as moral corruption.
In its recent report, the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented at least 179 cases of corporal punishment across Afghanistan in just three months, including the flogging of 28 women and 4 children.
The regime has also publicly executed at least five individuals convicted of murder across the country.
The UN, rights groups, and activists have repeatedly condemned the Taliban’s use of corporal punishment as a violation of international laws, urging the regime to put an end to these practices.
They have also criticized the Taliban’s legal system and practices, saying that the regime’s courts do not adhere to fair trial procedures and that accused individuals are denied the right to legal representation for their defense.
The Taliban, however, has so far ignored international criticism and calls to end corporal punishment. Recently, its leader has emphasized the continuation of these practices, asserting that he is enforcing Sharia law in Afghanistan.
