Taliban Flog 11 People Including One Woman in Three Provinces

The Taliban’s Supreme Court has announced that 11 individuals, including one woman, were publicly flogged in the provinces of Kabul, Samangan, and Khost on charges such as zina (adultery), lavat (sodomy), murder and injury, and theft.

According to the court’s official statement, on Saturday (May 31), a woman and a man were each sentenced to 39 lashes in public in the Roy-Do-Ab district of Samangan province on charges of zina.

In another statement, the Supreme Court reported that seven men were punished in the Tani and Sabari districts of Khost province. These individuals were convicted of lavat, murder and injury, and theft, receiving between 35 and 39 lashes in public, along with prison sentences ranging from three to ten years.

A separate statement from the same institution said that two other individuals in the Farza district of Kabul province were also convicted of lavat by the primary court last Wednesday (May 28), and sentenced to one year in prison and 20 lashes.

Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the group has regularly carried out public floggings across the country. So far, at least ten individuals have also been publicly executed in the presence of hundreds of people.

International human rights organizations have repeatedly condemned public corporal punishments and executions as clear violations of human rights and human dignity, urging the Taliban to end such practices.