The Taliban’s judicial authorities announced Tuesday that five individuals, including a woman, have been sentenced to 39 lashes each for offences described as “adultery, sodomy, and illicit relations.”
According to a statement from the Taliban court, the woman, convicted of “illicit relations,” also received a one-year prison sentence. Two men in Badakhshan province were reportedly convicted of “sexual relations outside marriage,” while two men in Kabul were found guilty of “same-sex relations.”
The punishments were carried out in Kabul, Badakhshan, and Daikundi provinces, though the statement did not clarify whether the floggings were conducted publicly.
Despite repeated international appeals to halt corporal punishment, the Taliban continues to impose floggings and other forms of physical discipline based on its interpretation of Islamic law.
In May, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported that at least 180 individuals had been publicly punished in various cities over a three-month period. The report highlighted the Taliban’s growing reliance on corporal punishment amid an absence of an independent judicial system.
Since then, dozens more have reportedly been sentenced to flogging or imprisonment, raising serious concerns about due process and human rights violations under Taliban rule.
