United Nations Condemns Mass Whipping of Individuals in 'Sar-e Pol' Afghanistan

The United Nations condemned the mass whipping of dozens of people in Afghanistan on Wednesday and called on Taliban officials to end this practice. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported that around 63 people, including 14 women, were publicly whipped on Tuesday, June 6, in a stadium in Sar-e Pol province in the north of the country. In a statement published on the social media platform X, UNAMA said: 'UNAMA once again condemns corporal punishment and calls for respect for international human rights commitments.' Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan, announced in April of this year that his government would resume the implementation of its interpretation of Islamic Sharia laws, including the public whipping of women and stoning as punishment for 'illicit relations.' In an audio file broadcast on the fifth of Farvardin (March 25), from a state radio controlled by the Taliban, he stated: 'We whip women (for illicit relations or adultery) and stone them. You may call these punishments a violation of women's rights because they contradict your democratic principles. But I am the representative of God, and you are the representatives of the devil.' According to the Afghan Witness research group, which monitors human rights conditions in Afghanistan, Taliban-appointed judges issued 417 public whipping and execution sentences last year, 57 of which were carried out against women. The latest instances of public executions were carried out in February in sports stadiums in Jowzjan and Ghazni provinces. The Taliban encourages people to watch these punishments for 'moral lessons,' but filming and photographing the execution scenes is prohibited.