KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Taliban authorities have publicly flogged three Individuals for “sodomy” in Kunduz province, northern Afghanistan, amid a recent surge in corporal punishment.
The Taliban Supreme Court announced in a statement that the flogging was carried out on Thursday, December 12, after receiving approval from the provincial court.
The statement says that each individual was given 39 lashes in front of local authorities and the public, along with prison sentences ranging from four to seven years.
This marks the seventh instance of public flogging carried out by the Taliban this month. Since the beginning of December, the regime has flogged at least 25 people, including three women, on various charges across Afghanistan.
Since the Taliban leader announced the resumption of corporal punishment in 2022, the regime has flogged hundreds of people, including women, girls, and members of the LGBTQ+ community, mostly for committing “immoral crimes.”
The practice of public flogging has intensified in recent months, with the regime carrying it out almost daily. In November alone, the Taliban flogged at least 81 people, including 15 women, across Afghanistan.
In his latest report submitted to the UN Security Council on Thursday, December 12, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres documented the flogging of 108 individuals, including 26 women and a girl, in Afghanistan over the past three months.
Furthermore, the fundamentalist Taliban regime continues to carry out public executions of Afghans. Over the past two years, the regime has publicly executed at least six individuals for murder.
The UN, human rights groups, and activists have condemned the Taliban’s use of corporal punishment and execution as cruel, inhuman, and a violation of international law, urging the regime to cease the practice.
The Taliban leaders, however, have so far ignored the criticism, arguing that their actions align with their interpretation of Islamic law. They accuse critics of misunderstanding or disagreeing with their interpretation of Sharia.
