UN urges Taliban to end floggings and executions in Afghanistan

KABUL (Khaama Press): The United Nations has called on the Taliban to halt flogging and execution in Afghanistan.
Fiona Frazer, the Human Rights Chief of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, said in a statement that the Taliban’s corporal punishment is against international law.
She urged the Taliban leadership to halt all executions immediately.
“Corporal punishment is a violation of the Convention against Torture and must cease,” said Fiona Frazer, the agency’s human rights chief. She also called for an immediate moratorium on executions.
In response, the Taliban’s foreign ministry said that most Afghans adhere to Islamic rules and guidance and that Afghanistan’s laws are based on Islamic principles. “In the event of a conflict between international human rights law and Islamic law, the government is obliged to follow the Islamic law,” the ministry said.
On the other hand, A UN report released on Monday strongly criticized the Taliban for carrying out execution, floggings and stoning since gaining control of Afghanistan. It urged the Taliban leaders to put an immediate end to such practices.
According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) report, 274 men, 58 women and two boys were publicly flogged in Afghanistan during the past six months.
The first public execution since they came into power, the Taliban authorities executed an Afghan man found guilty of murder in December 2022, according to the report.
In front of hundreds of spectators, including senior Taliban officials, the victim’s father executed him in the western province of Farah using an assault rifle.
Meanwhile, the Taliban authorities have increasingly increased restrictions on women and banned them from public areas like education, university, parks and gym.
The restriction has caused a global uproar, deepening the country’s isolation at a time when its economy is in freefall and worsening the humanitarian crisis.