Taliban Publicly Flogs 11 People, Including A Woman, in Nangarhar

The Supreme Court of the Taliban announced that it had publicly flogged 11 people, including a woman, in Ghanikhel district of Nangarhar province.

The court said that the men were punished with 30 to 39 lashes on charges of extramarital affairs and same-sex relations.

On Thursday, November 14, the Supreme Court of the Taliban released a newsletter on X social media platform, in which it has been stated that the Criminal Court of this group in Ghanikhel district of Nangarhar province flogged the accused in the presence of local authorities, court clients and the public.

With the return of the Taliban to power in August 2021, punishments such as execution and flogging have returned to Afghanistan. In the latest case, the Taliban, on Wednesday, executed an accused in Paktia province.

In its quarterly report, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) announced that the Taliban had physically punished 111 people, including 16 women, throughout Afghanistan in the last three months.

UNAMA said that the Taliban had flogged these people individually and sometimes in groups on various charges.

Human rights activists always consider corporal punishments such as flogging and execution as a violation of the basic principles of human rights and against human dignity.

Human rights activists believe that Taliban courts do not allow defendants to use services such as access to a defence lawyer. In many cases, defendants appear in court without legal advice and a defence attorney, which is a clear violation of the right to defence and does not allow the individual to exercise his rights in the trial process.

According to human rights activists, Taliban courts are held, in many cases, without transparency, and the media and independent institutions do not have access to information about the trial process and verdicts.