Taliban Intelligence Tortured Detainees, Sometimes For ‘Entertainment’, Says Rights Group

The report was delivered to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) during a session attended by Afghanistan’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, human-rights organisations and members of the committee.

Fawzia Koofi, a former deputy speaker of Afghanistan’s parliament and one of the delegates, told Afghanistan International the report assesses women’s political participation, access to education and healthcare, and other basic rights. She said the document was reviewed in detail and will now be circulated to CEDAW states parties for comment.

Koofi urged Germany, Australia, Canada and the Netherlands to accelerate efforts to refer the Taliban to the International Court of Justice, warning that the human-rights situation is deteriorating. The four governments have signalled they will file a case unless conditions for Afghan women improve.

Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, women have been barred from most public, educational, political and economic spheres, measures Koofi said violate Articles 7 and 8 of CEDAW, which guarantee women’s full participation in public life.

Participants in Tuesday’s meeting voiced deep concern over ongoing, organised rights violations and called for coordinated international pressure on the Taliban to meet its treaty obligations.

Afghanistan acceded to CEDAW in 2003, committing to align domestic laws with the convention and to file periodic progress reports. The former Afghan government submitted reports in 2011 and 2019. With no internationally recognised government now in place, a coalition of women activists compiled and presented this year’s assessment on Afghanistan’s behalf.

According to the court, the pair were each sentenced to 39 lashes and one year and six months in prison by the Taliban’s primary court in Kabul’s Fourth District. The flogging was carried out in the courtyard of the court.

This marked the second flogging reported by the Taliban in a single day. Earlier in Sar-e Pol province, another individual was publicly flogged on charges of “trespassing and causing injury,” according to local officials.

The Taliban regularly issues statements on the implementation of corporal punishments. Last week alone, the group reported that at least 56 men and women had been flogged across Afghanistan for a range of alleged offences.

Over the past four years, international human rights organisations have repeatedly called on the Taliban to end the use of corporal punishment. However, the group continues to defend public floggings and executions as part of its interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.

According to a statement issued by the court, the individual was sentenced to 20 lashes, five months’ imprisonment, and ordered to pay 5,000 Afghanis in compensation for the victim’s medical treatment. The flogging was carried out in the presence of court officials, government employees, and local residents.

Separately, the Taliban’s primary counter-narcotics court in Kabul sentenced 25 individuals to public floggings on Saturday for charges related to drug trafficking and sales.

In the past week alone, the Taliban has publicly flogged at least 53 people across Afghanistan, including five women. The group describes such punishments as the enforcement of “Islamic Sharia orders,” despite international condemnation of corporal punishment and human rights violations.

Human rights organisations continue to raise concerns about the lack of fair trial standards, legal representation, and transparency in the Taliban’s judicial system.

The two individuals received 39 lashes each. The statement did not specify whether the punishment was carried out in public, as previous announcements from the Taliban have typically indicated.

The court noted that the sentence was executed following approval by the Taliban’s Supreme Court, referring to the accused as “criminals.”

Despite international condemnation from human rights organisations over the use of corporal punishment and torture, the Taliban continue to administer public floggings. The group claims such punishments are in accordance with “Islamic Sharia law.”

The Taliban’s use of public corporal punishment has drawn widespread criticism for violating international human rights norms, particularly in cases involving women.

The UN women report released today, described as the most comprehensive assessment of women’s empowerment and gender equality in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s return to power, states that Afghan women have fallen significantly behind global human development standards.

Afghanistan faces a 76 percent gender inequality rate in key areas such as health, education, financial access, and participation in decision-making, placing it just above Yemen on the Global Gender Inequality Index.

The report finds that Afghan women are realising only 17 percent of their full potential in terms of access to opportunities and personal choice, compared to the global average of 60.7 percent.

“Afghanistan’s greatest resource is its women and girls. Their potential continues to be untapped, yet they persevere,” said Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women. “Afghan women are supporting each other, running businesses, delivering humanitarian aid and speaking out against injustice.”

According to the index, 78 percent of young Afghan women are not in education, employment or training, while the secondary school completion rate for girls is expected to fall to zero due to ongoing bans on girls’ secondary and tertiary education, including medical training.

The report also highlights a deep gender disparity in the workforce. Only 24 percent of Afghan women participate in the job market, compared to 89 percent of men. The majority of women are engaged in unpaid domestic labour; 74 percent, versus only 3 percent of men.

Additionally, men are nearly three times more likely than women to have a bank account or use mobile money services.

Despite widespread restrictions, the report notes a significant rise in the number of unemployed Afghan women actively seeking work. By 2022, this figure had quadrupled compared to pre-Taliban levels.

UN Women also reported that there are currently no women in the Taliban’s cabinet or local administrative offices, underscoring the continued political exclusion of Afghan women.