Taliban authorities flog 16 people for alleged crimes in Helmand

KABUL (Khaama Press): Taliban Supreme Court has announced that at least 16 people alleged of different crimes have been flogged in public in southern Helmand Province on Thursday.
The alleged individuals accused of different crimes have been lashed in public in the Grishk district of southern Helmand province earlier today, according to the announcement made by the Taliban’s supreme court.
The United Nations have described lashing Afghan men and women as a “cruel act”, and called on the Islamic emirate authorities of Afghanistan to respect human rights and values under all circumstances.
Public punishment includes flogging, stoning, and public execution, being widely exercised by Taliban officials across the country in the recent past, drawing massive criticism from the international community.
Taliban Supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a series of decrees last November, legitimizing some strict practices which are not in line with the contemporary lifestyle of the people. Barring Afghan girls from getting secondary and higher education are clear examples, which sparked serious demonstrations in some parts of Afghanistan.
The Islamic Emirate authorities publicly shot an alleged person to death in front of a huge crowd in western Farah province on December 7, where high-ranking Taliban officials had participated to see the shooting.
Following the shooting, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in Kabul urged the Taliban authorities to stop the death penalty immediately. Amnesty International also called the Taliban’s execution “cruel, inhuman and humiliating”. However, the Taliban regime continues practicing the rather harsh version of Islamic Sharia laws by re-introducing public execution in Afghanistan after more than two decades.