Taliban authorities in Maidan Wardak province have called on local residents to attend the public flogging of one woman and two men at a designated location, in the latest instance of the Taliban carrying out corporal punishments in public.
According to information released about the case, the three individuals were convicted of “illicit relations” and are each scheduled to receive between 30 and 39 lashes. Following the flogging, they have also been sentenced to imprisonment.
Local Taliban authorities have called on residents and community elders to attend the execution of the sentences. This comes as the Taliban have increased the implementation of corporal punishments in public in several provinces of Afghanistan in recent years.
Reports by the United Nations have also documented the continued use of corporal punishment, including flogging, since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has recorded numerous cases of individuals being flogged in public, including in cases involving allegations of “zina” and illicit relations.
In previous cases, the Taliban have carried out flogging sentences following approval by their courts, in the presence of officials from the group and local residents.
Human rights organizations and the United Nations have repeatedly expressed concern over the continued use of corporal punishment and its implementation in public. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has also expressed concern in a report over the use of harsh and degrading punishments against women in Afghanistan.
The Taliban have described the enforcement of such sentences as part of their interpretation of Islamic law. Human rights organizations, however, consider these forms of punishment to be incompatible with Afghanistan’s international human rights obligations.
The reported execution of the latest sentences in Maidan Wardak comes amid reports of similar flogging cases in various provinces across Afghanistan.
