Three women and 11 men flogged by
the Taliban in Afghanistan
Three women and 11 men were flogged
Wednesday after an Afghan court found them guilty of theft and "moral
crimes," a provincial official said.
Taliban's supreme leader ordered judges this month to fully implement Islamic
law, or sharia, saying corporal punishment is mandatory for certain crimes.
Qazi Rafiullah Samim, Head of Information
and Culture of Logar Province, said that the whips were not used in public.
He said that 14 people were given
arbitrary sentences, including 11 men and three women and the maximum number of
lashes for anyone was 39. Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada ordered judges
this month to fully implement aspects of Islamic law that include public
executions, stoning and flogging, and the amputation of limbs for thieves.
According to the Taliban's chief
spokesman, he said, "Look carefully at the files of thieves, kidnappers
and miscreants, those files that meet all the Shari'a conditions of limitation
and retribution, you are bound to execute."
Social media has been abuzz for months
with videos and images of Taliban fighters flogging people for various crimes.
However, this is the first time that authorities have confirmed such a sentence
handed down by a court. Other countries are scrutinizing the Taliban's track
record on human rights and women's rights since taking power in August 2021
after a two-decade insurgency.
No foreign government has formally
recognized the Taliban administration, and many have already criticized them
for going back on a promise to open secondary schools for girls across the
country in March.
Views Expressed
International media and officials have
expressed their views on this incident in different ways.
The US special envoy for women, girls and
human rights in Afghanistan, Rina Amiri, has criticized the ruling Islamist
Taliban for publicly flogging people, including women, for "moral
crimes" such as theft and adultery.
"This is both appalling and a dangerous
sign that the Taliban are becoming more defiant in showing the world that they
are embracing the policies of the past," she said on Twitter.
Amnesty International urged the Taliban
to immediately and unconditionally end the "criminal practice" of
public flogging and all other forms of corporal punishment. The rights watchdog
emphasized the need to develop a formal justice system with fair trials and
access to legal remedies.
"The Taliban continue to ignore
widespread criticism as they flagrantly flout basic human rights principles in
an alarming slide into what looks like a grim reminder of their rule" of
decades ago, Amnesty said.
The Daily Mail, while publishing the
news, described the Taliban as thugs. "Three more women and 11 men are
flogged by Taliban thugs who accused them of theft and 'moral crimes'."
"The move could signal a return to
the hard-line practices seen in the previous Taliban rule in the 1990s,"
BBC News.
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