Taliban on Tuesday publicly flogged two women and a man in Faryab province, northern Afghanistan, on charges of “adultery and aiding in the escape of a woman from her home,” according to a statement from the Taliban-run Supreme Court.
The court’s statement detailed that one of the women received 39 lashes and was sentenced to one year in prison, while the second woman was flogged 29 times. The man, accused of helping a woman flee her home, was also flogged 39 times.
This incident marks the latest in a series of public punishments carried out by the Taliban. Over the past week, the group has publicly flogged at least 10 people across various provinces for a range of offenses.
A quarterly report released today by the United Nations highlights the continuation of public corporal punishment under Taliban rule, often involving large groups of people. The report cites one particularly egregious incident on June 4 in Sar-e Pul city, where 63 individuals—15 women and 48 men—were publicly flogged in a stadium after being convicted of crimes such as armed robbery, extramarital relations, fleeing from home, and sodomy.
The return of public corporal punishment has drawn widespread international condemnation and raised serious concerns about the Taliban’s commitment to upholding human rights.
