Taliban Publicly Flogs Man & Woman In Ghazni

Coinciding with the International Human Rights Day (December 10), the Taliban's Supreme Court announced that it had flogged a woman and a man in public on charges of "sexual relations" outside of marriage.

The court said that it had sentenced the defendants to 39 lashes and three to five years in prison.

The Taliban's Supreme Court announced in a statement on Tuesday, December 10, that the sentences of imprisonment and flogging of two individuals have been issued by the Primary Court of Muqur District of Ghazni Province.

According to the statement, one of the men was sentenced to three years in prison and the other to five years in prison.

In the past week, the group has publicly flogged more than eight people in Kapisa, Maidan Wardak and Kabul provinces on various charges.

This comes as human rights organisations have repeatedly called for an end to corporal punishment in Afghanistan. Earlier, on the occasion of International Human Rights Day, the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan called on the Taliban to abide by its human rights obligations.

However, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an interview with the group-controlled National Radio that human rights in Afghanistan are respected and based on "Islamic and cultural values". With this comment, he once again showed the Taliban's disregard for international conventions.