The Taliban have publicly flogged 14 individuals, including three women, in Kabul, Parwan and Faryab provinces, after convicting them on charges including extramarital relations, murder, running away from home, and drug-related offences.
In a series of statements issued this week, the Taliban’s Supreme Court said that the punishments were handed down by various provincial courts and included prison sentences ranging from seven months to five years, in addition to public lashings.
In Kabul, the group’s primary court for counter-narcotics sentenced six individuals to between seven and nine months in prison and 10 lashes each for allegedly selling methamphetamine and heroin.
In Parwan province, six people including two women were convicted of extramarital relations and murder. They were each sentenced to prison terms of three to five years and received 39 lashes in public.
In Faryab’s Pashtun Kot district, a man and a woman were publicly flogged, also receiving 39 lashes and prison sentences of eight months to one year. The charges against them included running away from home and “illicit relations,” according to the court’s statement.
The Taliban Supreme Court did not provide information about the legal proceedings or whether the accused were granted access to legal representation or a fair trial.
Despite widespread international condemnation of corporal punishment and torture, the Taliban continue to enforce public floggings, which they claim are in accordance with Islamic Sharia law.
