KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban Supreme Court has announced the public flogging of five individuals, including a woman, in the provinces of Sar-e-Pol and Maidan Wardak.
In Sar-e-Pol, a woman was publicly flogged on Wednesday after being accused of an “illicit relationship.” The court sentenced her to 39 lashes and a year in prison, a ruling approved by the Taliban’s highest judicial body.
Meanwhile, in Maidan Wardak’s Jalrez district, four men were flogged on Tuesday for “theft.” Each received 25 lashes and prison sentences ranging from six months to three and a half years, according to the Taliban’s court.
Public floggings have become a routine form of punishment since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, with hundreds of individuals—including women, girls, and LGBTQ+ persons—subjected to such punishments for various alleged offenses.
In addition to flogging, the Taliban has carried out at least six public executions in recent years.
The United Nations and human rights groups have strongly condemned these actions, calling them violations of international human rights law and demanding an immediate halt to the practice.
The Taliban, however, defend the punishments as being in accordance with their interpretation of Sharia law, dismissing international criticism as a “misrepresentation of Islamic principles.”
