The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemned on Wednesday the public flogging of over 60 individuals, including more than a dozen women, by the Taliban in the northern province of Sari Pul.
According to UNAMA’s statement on the social platform X, at least 63 people were subjected to lashings on Tuesday by the de facto authorities of Afghanistan.
The UN office denounced corporal punishment and urged compliance with international human rights obligations.
In a separate statement, the Taliban’s supreme court confirmed the public flogging of 63 individuals, including 14 women, accused of various crimes such as sodomy, theft, and immoral relations.
These incidents took place at a sports stadium. Despite initial promises of a more moderate rule, the Taliban has resumed severe punishments in public, including executions, floggings, and stonings, shortly after regaining power in 2021. These punishments echo those seen during the Taliban’s previous rule in the late 1990s.
The Supreme Court also reported separate incidents in which a man and a woman convicted of adultery and attempting to flee home were flogged in the northern province of Panjsher on Wednesday.
Earlier this year, the Taliban publicly executed a man convicted of murder in front of thousands of spectators at a stadium in the northern province of Jawzjan. The victim’s brother shot the convict five times with a rifle.
This marked the fifth public execution since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, as US and NATO troops were concluding their withdrawal from Afghanistan after two decades of conflict.
