KABUL — Taliban have flogged three individuals in Kabul on charges of buying, selling, and possessing alcoholic beverages, hashish, and other intoxicants, according to a statement from the Taliban-run Supreme Court.
The court said in a press release that the individuals received between 10 and 39 lashes and were sentenced to prison terms ranging from two months to two years. The corporal punishment, it added, was carried out following the court’s approval.
The incident comes amid growing concerns over the Taliban’s use of public floggings. Richard Bennett, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan, told the UN Human Rights Council that the Taliban had flogged 128 people, including 27 women, in public in recent months. He noted that corporal punishment is now more frequent than imprisonment.
Reports indicate that in the past month alone, the Taliban have flogged more than 100 people, including women, across various provinces for a range of alleged offenses.
