KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban publicly flogged three men in Paktika Province on Monday, accusing them of sodomy, according to a statement from the Taliban’s Supreme Court.
The punishments, carried out in the Sar-e-Rawza district, were ordered by a Taliban primary court.
Each of the men received 30 lashes in front of a public gathering and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, the statement said.
These latest floggings bring the total number of people publicly punished by the Taliban in the past month to 93, including 13 women, according to court records. Accusations have ranged from theft to extramarital relationships and other offenses.
The provinces of Jowzjan and Khost have reported the highest numbers of public floggings, with 22 and 17 cases respectively.
Since reclaiming power in 2021, the Taliban have gradually returned to their 1990s-era practices of public corporal punishment. According to data collected by Amu, the Taliban have issued 176 qisas (retributive justice) sentences in the past three years, including stonings and executions. Six individuals currently await qisas sentences in Taliban-controlled prisons.
Global human rights organizations, including the United Nations Human Rights Council, have condemned the Taliban’s use of corporal punishment and retributive justice, calling for an immediate halt to such practices.
