Taliban Flog Three People, Including a Woman, in Paktia and Kunduz

The Taliban’s Supreme Court has announced that a woman and three men were publicly flogged in the provinces of Kunduz and Paktia.

According to a statement from the court, today (Sunday, May 4), a woman and a man in Qala-e-Zal district of Kunduz were each sentenced to 30 lashes and one year in prison for “illicit relations.”

In a separate statement, it was mentioned that two other men were flogged 33 times in public yesterday in Zurmat district of Paktia for “sodomy” and were also sentenced to one year in prison.

Since returning to power in Afghanistan, the Taliban have carried out public punishments, including floggings and executions, on a weekly basis. At least ten people have been executed in front of hundreds of spectators so far. These actions have faced widespread criticism from human rights organizations and the international community.

Human rights activists and organizations consider these punishments to be a grave violation of human rights and human dignity, and have repeatedly called for an immediate end to such practices.