As the Taliban intensify their use of corporal punishment, 23 people, including one woman, were publicly flogged in Kunduz, Kunar, Takhar and Kabul provinces over the past two days.
According to Taliban statements, 16 of the individuals were lashed in Kunar, 3 in Kabul, 2 in Kunduz and 2 people were flogged in Takhar.
Taliban-run supreme court said in separate statements that the individuals were accused of a range of offenses, including the sale of alcohol and narcotic tablets, extramarital and same-sex relations, theft, drug use, “disrespect,” “immoral behavior” and “illicit relations.” Each was sentenced to between 10 and 39 lashes, and prison terms ranging from six months to three years.
The floggings were carried out in public following approvals from Taliban-run courts, the statements said, and were conducted in front of local residents as part of the group’s strict enforcement of its interpretation of Islamic law.
According to reporting by Amu TV, the latest round of floggings brings the total to at least 70 people — including three women — subjected to public lashings across nine provinces in the past week. That represents a more than 130 percent increase compared with the same period last month.
Provinces where the floggings took place include Kabul, Laghman, Paktia, Ghazni, Sar-e Pul, Kunduz, Takhar, Kunar and Badakhshan. Punishments have ranged from 10 to nearly 40 lashes and include custodial sentences.
Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have publicly flogged nearly 1,000 people, including at least 160 women, according to rights monitors. The practice appears to be increasingly normalized in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, despite repeated calls from the United Nations and human rights groups to end corporal punishment.
These groups have called the lashings a violation of international law and a grave abuse of human rights. Yet the Taliban have shown no sign of retreating from the practice.
Taliban leader has publicly endorsed the implementation of hudood and qisas — retributive punishments under Islamic law — and has ordered their continued enforcement across the country.
