BAGHLAN, Afghanistan — Taliban publicly flogged a man on Thursday in Baghlan province, accusing him of selling alcohol.
The man was given 39 lashes and sentenced to one year and two months in prison, according to a statement from the Taliban-run Supreme Court.
The punishment, the court said, was carried out after being approved by the Taliban’s highest judicial authority.
Local Taliban officials, including the provincial chief judge and representatives from various judicial and administrative departments, were present during the flogging. Members of the public were also invited to witness the punishment.
Surge in corporal punishment
The incident is part of a broader pattern of public punishments carried out by the Taliban since their return to power in August 2021. Over the past year, 580 people, including 42 women, were flogged in various provinces on charges ranging from theft to “moral crimes,” according to Taliban judicial records.
In the last two months of 2023 alone, 93 individuals, including 12 women, were flogged publicly in 10 provinces, the Supreme Court reported. Those punished faced allegations such as adultery, fleeing from home, sodomy, theft, and other actions deemed contrary to Islamic law by the Taliban.
Provinces where public floggings have been most prevalent include Faryab, Paktia, Khost, Helmand, Jawzjan, Uruzgan, Farah, Ghazni, Kabul, Parwan, Kandahar, Paktika, and Ghor.
International Outcry
The Taliban’s use of public corporal punishment has drawn sharp criticism from human rights organizations and the international community, including the United Nations.
The U.N. and human rights groups have condemned these practices as cruel and degrading, calling on the Taliban to halt such punishments immediately. “These actions are a clear violation of international human rights standards,” a U.N. representative said in a recent statement.
Many Afghan citizens also view the Taliban’s approach as oppressive. “The world cannot remain silent in the face of these brutal and coercive acts,” said one Kabul resident, reflecting the growing frustration among Afghans subjected to the Taliban’s harsh enforcement of their interpretation of Islamic law.
