UN Calls on Taliban to End Whipping, Stoning, and Executions

The United Nations has urged the Taliban to put an end to whipping, executions, and stoning in Afghanistan. According to the Associated Press, the UN criticized the Taliban in a report published on Monday for public executions, whippings, and stonings, calling on Afghanistan's rulers to stop such punishments. Since taking power in Afghanistan, the Taliban has adopted corporal punishment, restricted women's higher education, enforced strict dress codes, limited women's employment, and restricted their presence in public spaces, including parks and sports halls. According to a report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, in just the past six months, 274 men, 58 women, and two boys were whipped in public in the country. Fiona Fraser, head of the UN human rights office for Afghanistan, stated that such corporal punishment violates the Convention Against Torture and must be halted immediately. The Taliban responded by stating that its laws are based on Islamic Sharia and that the vast majority of the Afghan population adheres to these laws. The Taliban's statement read: 'In case of conflict between international human rights laws and Islamic laws, the government is obliged to follow Islamic laws.' The Taliban has resumed such punishments contrary to its initial promises of a more moderate government compared to its previous rule in the 1990s. Gradually, the Taliban has intensified restrictions on women, barring them from public spaces like parks and sports halls according to their interpretation of Islamic Sharia. These restrictions have provoked international opposition and further isolated Afghanistan at a time when its economy is collapsing, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the country. The UN report on corporal punishment documents these actions by the Taliban before and after its return to power in August 2021, following the withdrawal of US and NATO forces after two decades of war. The report notes that the first public whipping after the Taliban's takeover was reported in October 2021, where a man and woman accused of adultery were whipped 100 times in public in front of religious scholars and local Taliban officials. In December 2022, Taliban officials executed an Afghan accused of murder, marking the first public execution since the Taliban regained power. A senior Taliban judicial official stated last week in a video message that since coming to power, the Taliban has issued 175 so-called retribution sentences, including 79 whippings and 37 stonings. Many of the mentioned punishments relate to convictions for adultery and 'running away from home.' Other alleged crimes include theft, homosexuality, alcohol consumption, fraud, and drug trafficking. Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, called the ban on women's employment by the Taliban an unacceptable violation of human rights in Afghanistan. The UN condemned the Taliban's policies against media and journalists in Afghanistan.