RASC News Agency: The Taliban’s Supreme Court has announced the public flogging of three men in Nangarhar province on charges of sodomy. In an official statement released on Sunday, March 2, the court declared that these individuals had been convicted and subjected to corporal punishment. According to the court’s ruling, each defendant received a sentence of one to two years in prison and 39 lashes. Despite widespread international condemnation, the Taliban persist in conducting extrajudicial trials and public punishments, raising serious concerns about the legitimacy and due process of their judicial system.
The British newspaper Daily Mail recently published an investigative report questioning the credibility and fairness of these punishments. The report suggests that some of the individuals subjected to Taliban-administered penalties may have been innocent, highlighting a disturbing pattern of arbitrary justice and politically motivated persecution. Analyzing several instances of public floggings and executions carried out by the Taliban over the past three years, the report found that the group has enforced brutal and archaic punishments, including public stonings, lashings, executions by firing squad, and even execution by collapsing walls on alleged offenders.
The report further underscores the Taliban’s failure to uphold their earlier promises of moderation, revealing that their enforcement of extreme punitive measures has remained unchanged since their return to power. The Daily Mail emphasized that these punishments are not only executed publicly but also conducted in secrecy, stating:
“Behind closed doors, brutal punishments and secret executions continue, far from public scrutiny.” Meanwhile, local sources across Afghanistan report that the Taliban frequently weaponize the legal system to settle personal scores, fabricating charges against individuals they perceive as adversaries. Critics argue that accusations often lack evidence, providing the Taliban with a convenient pretext to silence dissent and enforce their rigid ideological doctrines with impunity.
