KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban announced that they publicly flogged a woman and a man in northern Kunduz province, and two men in eastern Paktia provinces over the past two days.
The Taliban Supreme Court announced that the woman and the man were flogged on charges of “running away from home” in Qala-e-Zal district of Kunduz province on Wednesday, January 1.
According to the announcement, each individual received 25 lashes in the presence of local authorities and the public, and they were also sentenced to four months in prison.
In a separate statement, the Taliban court announced that two men were flogged on charges of “theft” in Paktia province on Tuesday, December 31. The court stated that they received 39 lashes each and a two-year prison sentence.
These incidents represent the most recent in a series of public floggings carried out by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Over the past three years, the regime has publicly flogged hundreds of people across the country, mostly for what the regime terms “moral crimes.”
In his latest report submitted to the UN Security Council on 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.
The Taliban has also publicly executed at least six people convicted of murder across the country.
The United Nations and international human rights groups have decried the Taliban’s corporal punishment and public executions, emphasizing they are prohibited under international human rights law and demanding they cease immediately.
However, the Taliban argues that it enforces Sharia law in Afghanistan, accusing other countries and rights groups of either lacking sufficient understanding of Islamic laws or harboring biases against Islam.
