Taliban forces have flogged five men accused of sodomy and another man for assisting a woman to flee home, according to an announcement from the Taliban Supreme Court in Kandahar province. The public punishment took place at Ahmad Shahi football stadium, where hundreds of people from local districts witnessed the event.
The statement said that five of the individuals were accused of sodomy while another was charged with aiding a married woman to escape her home. The punishment for the six accused varied from 30 to 39 lashes, accompanied by prison sentences ranging from three to six months.
Mawlawi Hayatullah Mubarak, the deputy governor of Kandahar, and Abdul Ghafar Bahr, the head of the Taliban Arbitration Court, were among the local officials overseeing the punishment. According to one witness, the Taliban explicitly identified the accused men, exposed their faces to the public, and subsequently carried out the floggings.
The flogging has drawn criticism from some Kandahar City residents who view the Taliban’s makeshift courts and punishments as contrary to Islamic morals. They have also accused the Taliban of treating those caught committing similar acts within its ranks more lightly.
One particular issue upsetting residents is the Taliban’s recent release of several of its senior officials allegedly without due trial. “The Taliban released their commander Mawlawi Haqbeen, who was caught in the act of sodomy, without trial and punishment just a month ago,” local resident Wahid Afghan* told Rukhshana Media.“Why didn’t he get whipped in the stadium? If they [Taliban] are telling the truth that they are implementing Islamic laws, then the ordinary people should not be the only victims.”
Farid Ahmad*, 35, another resident of Kandahar city, said, “In my opinion, it would be good if the punishment was applied equally to everyone. In Islam, there is a specific punishment for every crime. Whipping and cutting hands are included according to the court’s decision, but it should be a law for everyone. It should not be applied directly to poor people and then not applied to powerful ones. If the government cannot respect fairness, they should stop doing these things.”
Earlier this month the United Nations and Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission both separately urged the Taliban to end the practice of the extreme corporeal punishments because they are forms of torture and go against human rights.
