KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban has publicly flogged ten people, including two women, on multiple charges in the provinces of Balkh, Ghor, and Khost, amid a recent increase in corporal punishment.
In multiple statements today, the Taliban Supreme Court announced the public floggings of these individuals, stating that the punishments were carried out with the approval of the regime’s Supreme Court.
According to the statement, two people were flogged in northern Balkh province for adultery on Wednesday, November 27. Each received 35 lashes and a four-year prison sentence.
Additionally, six people, including a woman, were flogged in a sports stadium in central Ghor province on Wednesday for moral corruption, adultery, and sodomy. They received between 25 and 39 lashes and prison sentences ranging from five months to two years.
Similarly, a man and a woman were flogged for moral corruption in eastern Khost province on November 21, with each receiving 39 lashes in the presence of local authorities and the public, according to the Taliban court.
Shortly after regaining power in Afghanistan in August 2021, Taliban leaders announced their intention to enforce a strict version of Sharia law, which includes public executions, floggings, and stonings, similar to their rule in the country in the late 1990s.
Since then, the regime has publicly executed six men for murder and publicly flogged hundreds of people, including women and LGBTQ+ individuals, on various charges across the country.
In recent months, public punishments have risen in Afghanistan, with the Taliban flogging people almost every day, mostly on charges the regime labels as “moral corruption.”
In its recent report, the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented 111 cases of corporal punishment, including 15 women and a girl, over the past three months (June to September).
The UN and many human rights organizations have condemned the Taliban’s form of punishment and criticized the legitimacy of the regime’s courts, especially when accused individuals are denied the right to legal representation and the opportunity to defend themselves.
The fundamentalist regime in power in Afghanistan, however, claims to enforce Sharia law in the country. It accuses other countries and organizations of either lacking sufficient knowledge or having disagreements with Islam.
