The Taliban publicly flogged 14 people in a football stadium, citing Sharia law. The allegations are adultery or theft. The USA is appalled and sees the action as a serious sign to the rest of the world.
The US has sharply criticized reports of a public flogging in Afghanistan. The US special envoy for Afghan girls and women wrote on Twitter that these were a “horrific and dangerous sign” that the Taliban were becoming increasingly defiant and showing the world that they were resuming the policies of the past. “This has not ended well before and will once again lead the country down a dangerous path,” she continued.
On Wednesday, the Taliban said they had 14 people publicly flogged in a football stadium in Logar province in the east of the country. The accused were accused of adultery, theft or corruption, among other things, according to an official statement. It is the first time public flogging has been confirmed as punishment since the Taliban took power last summer.
During the first Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001, floggings, amputations and stonings were carried out in public. At the same time, women in the capital Kabul have once again protested against the curtailment of their rights by the Taliban government.
In the center of the city, the demonstrators shouted slogans such as “Woman, life, solidarity” or “We are fighting for our rights,” as the daily newspaper “Hascht-e Sobh” reported. It is the first women’s protest in the city since the arrest of some women’s rights activists a few weeks ago.
Since taking power in August 2021, the Taliban have continued to restrict women’s rights. In large parts of the country, girls’ schools are closed from the seventh grade. Women in Kabul were recently banned from parks because park visitors are said to have disobeyed gender segregation. According to media reports, the Taliban in the central province of Uruzgan have now also banned women from buying SIM cards.
