The Taliban Supreme Court says one woman and four men were publicly flogged in Maidan Wardak and Zabul provinces for theft, extramarital affairs and same-sex relations. The group said that each of them received 39 lashes and prison terms of two to three years.
In separate statements on Monday, April 13, the court said one person was punished in Shahjoy district of Zabul, while one woman and three men were flogged in Sayedabad district of Maidan Wardak.
According to the statements, those in Wardak were punished in public in the presence of local officials, security personnel, government staff and residents.
Since the start late March, the Taliban have flogged at least 97 people across Afghanistan on various charges.
Despite opposition from international organisations to corporal punishment and torture, the Taliban have continued carrying out public floggings.
The group describes such punishments as the implementation of “Islamic Sharia”.
A Kabul University student says Taliban Higher Education Minister Neda Mohammad Nadeem slapped and questioned him for wearing an Uzbek cap, calling it political. The student says the cap reflects his culture.
A student at Kabul University has alleged that Taliban Higher Education Minister Neda Mohammad Nadeem interrogated and struck him for wearing a traditional Uzbek cap on campus.
Hebatullah Yaqoboghlu, a student of Uzbek language and literature, told Afghanistan International that Taliban authorities had recently instructed students to wear caps. Some students, he said, chose to wear traditional Uzbek headwear.
According to the student, a group of students were voluntarily collecting rubbish on campus on Wednesday when a vehicle carrying the Taliban minister stopped nearby.
He claimed that Nadeem’s guards initially questioned the students about their caps, after which the minister himself interrogated them.
“We thought the minister might appreciate our efforts, but instead he took a student’s cap and threw it on the ground,” he said.
The student said the minister described the cap as a political symbol, claiming it was associated with Manzoor Pashteen and had no connection to Afghanistan.
Manzoor Pashteen is a leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement in Pakistan and a critic of the Taliban.
Yaqoboghlu said Nadeem asked why he was wearing the cap and whether he had been instructed by someone else. “I told him I have worn this cap since childhood and that it is part of our culture,” he said.
He added that, on Nadeem’s orders, he removed the mask he was wearing, after which the minister slapped him.
“My pain is not from the slap, but from the fact that even my cap is not tolerated in this country,” he said. “It was not my face that hurt, but my heart.”
The student also claimed that his student ID was confiscated and that he was expelled from the university.
The incident has drawn criticism. Rahila Dostum, a former senator and daughter of former vice president Abdul Rashid Dostum, described the minister’s behaviour as “ugly, discriminatory and insulting”.
She said disrespecting cultural identity has no place in any system and warned that such actions leave a troubling mark on the Taliban’s record.
Anwar Sadat, a former labour minister, also criticised Nadeem, calling him a “terrorist” and accusing him of ethnically motivated behaviour.
He claimed that Nadeem had previously been involved in violence and destruction in northern Afghanistan and added that efforts to reach political understanding with the Taliban would not succeed while figures such as Nadeem and Hibatullah Akhundzada remain in power.
The Taliban Supreme Court says a woman was publicly flogged with 39 lashes in Khost province on Wednesday, accused of “running away from home”, and sentenced to two years in prison.
The Taliban had earlier said that in 2025 they executed at least six people and flogged 1,118 others across Afghanistan on various charges.
The group describes the flogging of those convicted by its courts as the implementation of “Islamic Sharia”.
Despite strong opposition from international organisations to corporal punishment and torture, the Taliban have continued to carry out public floggings.
Human rights groups say the Taliban’s judicial system is non-standard and that defendants are denied basic fair trial rights, including access to legal representation.
The Taliban Supreme Court says 19 people, including one woman, have been flogged in Balkh, Nimroz and Ghor on various charges, continuing public corporal punishment despite international criticism.
According to Taliban statements, one man in Shortepa district of Balkh province was publicly flogged 30 lashes on charges of same-sex relations.
The Taliban’s primary court in Nimroz province also punished 17 people on Thursday on charges including “assaulting father”, illicit relations, theft and same-sex relations.
Those convicted were sentenced to between five months and eight years in prison and received between 15 and 39 lashes.
At the same time, a Taliban primary court in Saghar district of Ghor province flogged a woman 10 lashes on Thursday on charges of “moral corruption.”
Despite opposition from international organisations to torture and corporal punishment, the Taliban have continued to flog individuals in public. The group describes such punishments, imposed by its courts, as the implementation of “Islamic Sharia”.
The Rawadari human rights organisation said in a report on March 25 that the Taliban had carried out cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments over the past year, including issuing qisas sentences for six people, stoning one woman and flogging 857 individuals.
It also said that during the same period, 611 people, including 48 women and 35 children, were deliberately and mysteriously killed or injured by the Taliban and unidentified individuals.
According to the report, the victims were mainly former government employees, protesters, civil society and human rights activists, community elders and people accused by the Taliban of cooperating with opposition groups.
The Taliban’s Supreme Court said on Sunday it had flogged six people, including two women, in Jawzjan province and sentenced them to prison. Some of those punished were accused of “insulting” Taliban officials.
Under Afghanistan’s previous government, criticism or insults directed at officials did not carry criminal penalties. Since returning to power, however, the Taliban, similar to Iran, have detained and punished citizens on charges of insulting officials.
In a statement, the Taliban’s Supreme Court did not specify what type of remarks led to the convictions or floggings. The court has also punished individuals with flogging and prison sentences for extramarital relations and for breaking the fast during Ramadan.
The court has imposed lengthy prison terms for extramarital relations. In Balkh and Jawzjan provinces, Taliban courts have sentenced accused men and women to five and six years in prison respectively.
The human rights organisation Rawadari said in a report on Thursday that the Taliban carried out “cruel, inhuman and degrading” punishments over the past year, including issuing qisas (retribution) sentences for six people, stoning a woman, and flogging 857 individuals.
Despite opposition from international organisations to torture and corporal punishment, the Taliban have continued to carry out public floggings. The group describes such punishments, imposed by courts under its control, as enforcement of “Islamic law”.
Representatives of Russia and Qatar, speaking at a session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, made no reference to widespread human rights violations or the situation of women in Afghanistan, unlike several other countries.
Russia’s representative focused on the release of Afghanistan’s frozen assets and called for an end to what he described as double standards.
He said Moscow was closely monitoring developments in Afghanistan and called for the inclusion of all groups in the country’s governance process.
The Russian envoy also said Afghan assets held in Western countries should be released and urged the international community to act independently and impartially.
Qatar’s representative, without addressing the situation of women under the Taliban, called for constructive dialogue between the international community and the group.
The Qatari envoy said Afghanistan is facing complex challenges, including climate change, poverty, food insecurity and sanctions.
She described constructive engagement between the international community and Afghanistan as the only viable path to resolving challenges and promoting peace and stability.
Qatar’s representative also called for Afghanistan’s reintegration into the international community.
At the opening of the same session, Volker Türk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said Afghanistan had become a graveyard for human rights.
