Taliban publicly flogged two women and two men in northern provinces of Balkh and Jawzjan after convicting them on charges including alcohol transportation, adultery and “illegal marriage,” according to statements by the Taliban’s Supreme Court.
In two separate statements, the court said the four individuals received between 15 and 39 lashes each. One woman and one man in Jawzjan were sentenced to between one and three years in prison.
Taliban said the floggings were carried out in public, in the presence of their local officials, after approval by their Supreme Court.
The punishments are part of the Taliban’s continued use of corporal punishment since returning to power in August 2021, a practice that has drawn repeated criticism from the United Nations and international human rights groups.
Rights organisations say public floggings and other corporal punishments violate fundamental human rights and amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
In a recent report to the United Nations Security Council, UN Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan Georgette Gagnon said the Taliban flogged 215 people, including 42 women, over a three-month period on charges such as adultery, running away from home, same-sex relations, alcohol consumption and gambling.
The report added that UN monitoring teams recorded about 160 cases of grave human rights violations between July 1 and Sept. 30, affecting at least 90 children, including 17 girls.
According to the report, the most common violations included killings and maiming, denial of humanitarian assistance and attacks on schools and hospitals, accounting for about 90% of all recorded abuses during the period.
