KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban’s Supreme Court has announced the public flogging of four individuals in Paktika, Kandahar, and Parwan on charges of “sodomy” and “insulting religious rituals and Islamic values.”
In a statement, the court announced that two individuals were flogged in the Janikhel and Khairkot districts of eastern Paktika on Monday and Tuesday. One was convicted of sodomy, and the other of insulting Islamic values, both receiving 39 lashes and prison sentences ranging from eight months to six years.
In a separate statement, the court confirmed that a man was flogged in southern Kandahar province on Monday for sodomy. He was sentenced to 30 lashes and one year in prison.
The court further announced that another individual was flogged in Bagram district of eastern Parwan province on similar charges. He received 39 lashes and a three-year prison sentence following a primary court decision upheld by the Taliban’s highest court.
These are the latest in a series of corporal punishments carried out by the Taliban since their return to power in 2021. In recent months, hundreds of people, including women and members of the LGBTQ+ community, have been flogged on charges the Taliban describe as “moral corruption.”
In his recent report on Afghanistan submitted to the UN Security Council, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres detailed the flogging of 108 individuals, including 26 women and one girl, in Afghanistan over a three-month period.
The regime has also conducted at least six public executions for murder across Afghanistan in recent years.
Despite repeated calls from the UN, human rights groups, and activists over the years to end such “inhuman” practices, Taliban leaders insist on their continuation, arguing that they are enforcing Sharia law in Afghanistan.
