KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban has publicly flogged 13 people, including a woman, in the provinces of Kabul, Kapisa, and Uruzgan amid a recent surge in corporal punishment.
In multiple statements, the Taliban’s Supreme Court announced the punishments, stating that they were carried out with approval from both primary courts and the regime’s highest judicial authorities.
Nine individuals were publicly flogged in Uruzgan’s Char Chino district on Thursday for alleged theft, each receiving 39 lashes and sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to two years.
In Kapisa, three people, including a woman, were flogged on charges of “running away from home” and “fleeing woman from home,” with each receiving 39 lashes and seven months prison sentence. This occurred in Nijrab district on Wednesday.
Additionally, a person was flogged in Kabul on Wednesday for “adultery,” the court confirmed.
Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, public floggings have become a regular practice, with hundreds of people—including women, girls, and members of the LGBTQ+ community—subjected to such punishments on a variety of charges.
The regime has also carried out at least six public executions for murder in recent years.
Human rights groups, the UN, and various activists have strongly condemned the Taliban’s use of corporal punishment and executions, describing it as a violation of basic human rights and an instigator of fear among Afghan population. However, the Taliban insists that it is enforcing Sharia law and accuses critics of either misunderstanding or disagreeing with Islam.
