KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Taliban authorities have publicly flogged 11 people on various charges in the central provinces of Bamyan, Maidan Wardak, and Ghor over the past two days.
In multiple statements today, the Taliban Supreme Court announced that its local authorities have flogged seven people in Ghor, two in Bamyan, and two others in Maidan Wardak since yesterday.
According to Taliban statements, one of the seven people flogged in Ghor was a woman. However, local sources have informed KabulNow that three women were actually flogged in the province today.
The court stated that these individuals were flogged on charges of “running away from home,” “adultery, and “sodomy.” They each received between 29 and 39 lashes and were sentenced to imprisonment ranging from four months to four years.
The Taliban court also stated that the punishment was carried out in the presence of local Taliban authorities and residents of the provinces.
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, children, and members of the LGBT+ community, have been publicly flogged or had body parts amputated for crimes such as adultery, sodomy, and theft.
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 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.
