RASC News Agency: Official data from the Taliban’s Supreme Court and statements from their provincial authorities reveal that in 2024 alone, the group publicly flogged 583 individuals and executed six others. Afghanistan’s sports stadiums once vibrant venues for cricket, football, and cultural events have been transformed into arenas of retribution, hosting public punishments and physical torment. Across the provinces, men and women accused of various offenses endure daily lashings under the Taliban’s draconian rule. Often, these punishments are meted out collectively, leaving victims to grapple with lifelong scars both physical and psychological. Zarghona, a resident of Behsud District in Nangarhar, is among the countless victims whose life was upended after she was publicly flogged over an alleged “illicit relationship” approximately 18 months ago. Zarghona categorically denies the accusation but describes the ordeal as deeply traumatic.
“I was arrested, flogged, and humiliated before my family and community for a crime I did not commit,” Zarghona laments. She recounts the events leading to her punishment: her mother was hospitalized, and with no male family members present, Zarghona bore the full burden of caregiving. A hospital staff member assisted her with her mother’s care and later greeted her in public, inquiring about her mother’s condition. It was during this interaction that the Taliban detained her, accusing her of “illicit relations.” Following a hasty trial, Zarghona was sentenced to flogging and forced into marriage with the man she had merely exchanged pleasantries with. As with most forced marriages, this union has brought her nothing but pain. Zarghona shares that even her husband’s family treats her with disdain, while societal scorn has rendered her life unbearable.
Zarghona’s story is emblematic of the Taliban’s systemic brutality, which includes public flogging a practice internationally recognized as torture. Over three years into the Taliban’s rule, the group continues to stage public punishments and executions almost daily, targeting individuals accused of a range of alleged crimes. Statistics from the Taliban’s Supreme Court and independent reports indicate that in 2024, the group flogged 583 individuals in public and carried out six executions. On March 24, 2024, an audio recording attributed to Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada surfaced, in which he reaffirmed the directive for public punishments to enforce Sharia law.
In the first half of 2024 alone, the Taliban subjected 250 individuals to public lashings. The practice first gained international attention on December 22, 2022, when 22 people, including two women, were publicly flogged in Uruzgan Province’s Tarinkot football stadium for alleged crimes. According to reports from the United Nations and the Taliban’s governor’s office in Sar-e-Pul, 39 individuals were flogged in January and February 2024. Between March and June, the number surged to 210. In the latter half of the year, 334 additional cases of public flogging were recorded. Data from the Taliban’s Supreme Court indicate that in July, 44 individuals were publicly flogged. This figure climbed to 161 in August, September, and October; 81 in November; and 46 in December. Those punished faced accusations ranging from extramarital relations and fleeing home to theft, fraud, and forgery.
In the first two months of 2024, lashings were recorded in various provinces: one in Paktika, four in Helmand, 11 in Maidan Wardak, eight in Herat, four in Laghman, two in Sar-e-Pul, and 13 in Bamyan. The United Nations reported that in June 2024 alone, 147 individuals were publicly flogged. Sar-e-Pul’s provincial administration confirmed that 63 people, including 14 women, were subjected to lashings in the central stadium for offenses such as “immorality, theft, and inappropriate relationships.”
In July 2024, public floggings occurred across multiple provinces: four in Ghazni, three in Bamyan, one in Kandahar, four in Paktika, 18 in Uruzgan, two in Badghis, one in Panjshir, four in Parwan, and two in Kunar. Between August and October, 161 individuals faced public lashings. Among them, 42 were punished in Khost, 19 in Kabul, 12 in Maidan Wardak, five in Faryab, four in Bamyan, five in Takhar, four in Logar, nine in Kandahar, eight in Kunar, four in Ghazni, five in Herat, seven in Laghman, one in Samangan, eight in Sar-e-Pul, two in Balkh, three in Helmand, 12 in Zabul, eight in Ghor, one in Paktika, and two in Parwan.
In November and December, public lashings were recorded as follows: 10 in Paktia, 16 in Khost, two in Balkh, six in Ghor, six in Samangan, one in Baghlan, four each in Faryab and Takhar, 15 in Ghazni, 22 in Jawzjan, six in Parwan, six in Kabul, two in Maidan Wardak, three in Kunduz, and five in Kapisa. These systematic public punishments illustrate the Taliban’s complete disregard for human rights, transforming Afghanistan into a stage for daily acts of cruelty that continue to horrify the global community.
