The Taliban’s Directorate of Information and Culture in Uruzgan has issued a public notice inviting residents to witness the public flogging of 15 individuals at the Tarinkot stadium on Thursday morning.
The group claims the accused are being punished for committing “various criminal offences,” although no specific charges have been disclosed.
The Taliban has explicitly banned spectators from carrying smartphones or video cameras to the event, warning that violators will face punishment. The authorities have not provided any transparency regarding the legal proceedings or evidence presented against the accused.
This follows a similar incident on 12 April, when the Taliban publicly flogged 13 people, including five women, in the provinces of Jowzjan and Khost. According to the group’s courts, two women in Darzab district of Jowzjan were punished for alleged extramarital relations and fleeing home. In Khost, two men and one woman were convicted of extramarital sex, while six men and two women were flogged for alleged “illicit relationships.”
Despite ongoing international condemnation of corporal punishment and torture, the Taliban continues to carry out public lashings as a tool of intimidation. The group’s Supreme Court provides no details regarding the judicial process, the presence of defence lawyers, or whether fair trials were conducted.
International organisations have repeatedly raised concerns over the absence of due process and fair trial standards in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.
