KABUL — Taliban publicly flogged two individuals in Kabul on Saturday, accusing them of carrying alcoholic beverages, according to a statement from the Taliban’s Supreme Court.
Taliban did not disclose the identities of those punished but said they had been sentenced to two years in prison and 39 lashes.
In the past month alone, Taliban have flogged at least 72 people, including several women, in various provinces on charges ranging from theft to “running away from home,” according to findings by Amu TV.
Human rights activists and Afghan citizens have condemned the punishments, calling them “cruel and in violation of human rights principles.” Critics say Taliban are reinstating the harsh policies it enforced during its rule in the 1990s.
The United Nations and other international organizations have repeatedly urged the Taliban to end the use of corporal punishment, but Taliban have continued to implement public floggings and other forms of physical punishment under its interpretation of Islamic law.
