KABUL, Afghanistan — Since its takeover of Afghanistan, Taliban has issued 37 stoning orders and publicly whipped 587 individuals, including 106 women, according to reports from the Taliban-run judicial system.
The Supreme Court of the Taliban has decreed these sentences, with 176 individuals charged with various allegations. Public flogging, which had ceased for two decades, was reintroduced by the Taliban on November 6, 2022.
A review of reports from the past three years by Amu reveals that between March 21, 2022, and March 21, 2024, 298 people were flogged. From March 21, 2023, to March 21, 2024, 44 people were lashed, and more than 240 have been flogged publicly in the current year so far.
Among those flogged between March 21, 2022, and March 21, 2023, were 73 women. The charges included alleged immoral relations, fleeing from home, and robbery, according to the Taliban’s Supreme Court. From March 21, 2023, to March 21, 2024, six women were among the 44 individuals flogged.
On May 4, 2023, the Taliban’s Supreme Court announced 175 sentences of retaliation, 37 stoning sentences, and 4 sentences of wall-toppling—a form of corporal punishment for those accused of sodomy. The court stated that it has carried out these corporal punishments as decreed.
Despite widespread international condemnation, the practice of corporal punishment continues. The Supreme Court disclosed that, in the current year, 245 people, including 26 women, were publicly whipped on charges of fleeing from home, immoral relations, and robbery.
The Taliban has also publicized the execution of five individuals in the provinces of Ghazni, Farah, Laghman, and Sar-e Pol, without providing further details. In Bamyan province, three individuals, including one woman, were publicly whipped on charges of extramarital relations and theft.
Human rights activists have condemned the Taliban’s actions. “The Taliban’s behavior towards the country’s citizens is cruel. It imposes its desires on the citizens with an extreme interpretation of Islam,” said Seema Noori, a human rights activist.
Concerns among citizens over the Taliban’s behavior are growing. “The Taliban has not changed. It continues to whip men and women in public. The world should not remain silent,” said a Kabul resident, who wished to remain unnamed.
Nargis, a resident of Balkh province, shared her frustration, stating, “The Taliban has turned sports fields into flogging grounds. We ask human rights organizations not to remain silent against all of these Taliban oppressions.”
Since seizing power, Taliban has enforced severe corporal punishments under what it considers Sharia law, sparking international and domestic outrage.
