KABUL: Authorities in Afghanistan under the Taliban carried out widespread corporal punishments over the past year, with at least 1,186 individuals flogged and six publicly executed.
The figures, drawn from statements issued by the Taliban’s Supreme Court, cover the solar year 1404 (March 2025 to March 2026). However, they exclude the final days of Saratan (mid-July), suggesting the overall number may be even higher.
Floggings were reported across a wide range of provinces, including Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, Nangarhar, and Helmand, among many others indicating the practice is widespread nationwide.
Reports indicate that the use of corporal punishment increased in the later months of the year. Women were also among those punished, with nearly 100 women reportedly flogged over an eight-month period. Many of these punishments were carried out in public settings.
Human rights observers have expressed alarm, saying the rise in such penalties reflects tightening restrictions under Taliban rule and raises concerns about due process and civil liberties. Researcher Abdul Ahad Farzam warned that these practices could have lasting societal impacts, stating they foster fear and undermine fundamental rights.
Public executions were also conducted under the principle of qisas (retributive justice). In one recent incident, a man was executed in a stadium in Khost before a large crowd, including children. Other executions were reported in Badghis, Farah, and Nimroz.
During the same period, authorities introduced a new penal code that has drawn international criticism for its severity and lack of legal safeguards. Enforcement against dissent has also increased. In one case in Kapisa, a man was sentenced to 39 lashes and 18 months in prison for alleged anti-government propaganda. In another case in Badghis, an individual was flogged and jailed for allegedly insulting Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
While the Taliban maintain that such punishments are in line with their interpretation of Islamic law, rights organizations argue that these measures deepen Afghanistan’s isolation and raise serious concerns about the protection of basic freedoms and human rights.
