UN calls on Taliban to end corporal punishment in Afghanistan

New Delhi: The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) unveiled a report on the utilization of corporal punishment and the death penalty in Afghanistan, revealing that within the past six months, 274 men, 58 women, and 2 boys were publicly flogged.

Fiona Frazer, the Chief of UNAMA’s human rights office, asserted that such acts violate the Convention against Torture and must be ceased immediately. Furthermore, she emphasized that the UN holds a firm stance against the death penalty and encourages the de facto authorities to enforce an immediate moratorium on all executions.

UNAMA maintains that the implementation of corporal punishment by the Afghan authorities contravenes international law and must come to an end. Calling it a violation of the International law the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is considered a fundamental principle of international law, the report reiterated.

Corporal punishment is also a violation of the Convention against Torture and must cease,” said UNAMA’s human rights chief Fiona Frazer, stressing that the UN is “strongly opposed” to the death penalty.

UNAMA said that it had documented “a range of forms of corporal punishment” carried out by the Taliban since their return to power on 15 August 2021 that includes lashings or floggings, stoning, forcing people to stand in cold water, and forced head shaving”.

In the last six months alone, 274 men, 58 women and two boys have been publicly flogged. According to the report, the legal system in Afghanistan is currently “failing to safeguard minimum fair trial and due process guarantees”.

UNAMA warned that the Taliban’s refusal to grant licences to women defence lawyers and the exclusion of women judges from the judicial system are impacting women and girls’ access to justice.

Sentenced to ‘100 lashes’

Between 15 August 2021 and 12 November 2022 alone, UNAMA documented at least 18 instances of judicial corporal punishment carried out by de facto provincial, district and appeals courts.

“Within the 18 documented instances, 33 men and 22 women were punished, including two girls; the vast majority of punishments, for both men and women, related to adultery or ‘running away from home’ and all women and girls who were punished were reportedly convicted of such offences,” the report showed.

In general, punishments consisted of 30 to 39 lashes for each convicted person. However, “in some cases, people received as many as 80 to 100 lashes”, according to the report.

Under the first Taliban regime (1996 to 2001), public corporal punishment (including lashings and amputations) and executions were carried out by officials against individuals convicted of crimes, often in large capacity venues such as sports stadiums and at urban intersections.

At the time, concerns were raised about the serious violations of human rights inherent in public executions and corporal punishment, with Taliban officials responding that such punishments were a “major deterrent” for criminals and the population at large.

During the 20 years of armed conflict, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented at least 182 parallel justice structure punishments carried out by the Taliban between 15 August 2006 and 15 August 2021, resulting in 213 deaths and 64 injuries.