KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Taliban authorities publicly flogged eight people, including two women, in northern Takhar and southern Kandahar provinces on Wednesday, October 9.
In separate newsletters today, the Taliban Supreme Court announced that two women and a man were flogged in Takhar on charges of adultery, while five individuals were flogged in Kandahar on charges of “adultery, sodomy, and theft.”
According to the newsletters, these individuals received 39 lashes each after receiving approval from the Taliban’s provincial courts and its supreme court.
In addition to flogging in Kandahar, the Taliban court also sentenced each individual to prison terms ranging from two to seven years.
These are the latest instances of corporal punishment in Afghanistan. Since their return to power, the Taliban has made it a central aspect of its penal system, administering lashings to hundreds of individuals, including women and members of the LGBTQ+ community, mostly in sports stadiums before large crowds.
The Taliban’s practice of public flogging has intensified in recent months, following a call from its hardline supreme leader to local authorities to enforce Islamic punishments (hudud).
According to a UN report, between April and June of this year, the Taliban publicly flogged at least 179 individuals, including 28 women and 4 children, on various charges across Afghanistan.
Furthermore, the Taliban continues to carry out public executions of Afghans on various charges. Over the past year, the regime has executed at least five individuals in public.
The UN, human rights groups, and activists have condemned the Taliban’s use of corporal punishment as cruel, inhuman, and a violation of international law, urging the regime to cease the practice.
The Taliban has, to date, ignored international criticism and calls to end corporal punishment. Recently, its leader emphasized the continuation of these practices, saying that he is enforcing Sharia law in Afghanistan.