Over the past three years, the Taliban have publicly flogged 715 individuals across the country. Data from the Taliban’s Supreme Court and reports by the Hasht-e Subh Daily show that 221 people were flogged in 2024 (1403 SH), 104 in 2023 (1402 SH), 386 in 2022 (1401 SH), and 4 in 2021 (1400 SH) across 31 provinces. Among those flogged, 136 were women. This number might be higher than reported, but it is based on previously published reports by the Hasht-e Subh Daily. The punishments were imposed for charges including adultery, theft, murder, failure to adhere to the Taliban’s dress code, fleeing from home, drinking alcohol, making phone calls to non-mahram individuals, sodomy, traveling without a mahram, and drug dealing. Offenders also received short- and long-term imprisonment sentences in addition to flogging.
The report reveals that these punishments occurred in the provinces of Kabul, Kandahar, Maidan Wardak, Khost, Bamyan, Balkh, Ghazni, Uruzgan, Badghis, Panjshir, Parwan, Paktika, Sar-e Pol, Kunduz, Nimruz, Badakhshan, Paktia, Jowzjan, Kapisa, Logar, Faryab, Ghor, Baghlan, Herat, Takhar, Laghman, Zabul, Helmand, Nangarhar, Daikundi, and Farah, all administered by the Taliban’s vigilante courts.
According to the report, 89 individuals were punished in Sar-e Pol, 53 in Badakhshan, 53 in Khost, 53 in Takhar, 52 in Helmand, 44 in Parwan, 43 in Kandahar, 41 in Uruzgan, 35 in Ghor, 30 in Jowzjan, with the remaining in other provinces. The report is based on the annual data of the Taliban’s vigilante trials.
Vigilante Justice of the Taliban in 2024 (1403 SH)
The report reveals that in 2024, the Taliban’s courts flogged 221 individuals, including 22 women and 199 men, in stadiums and public places. Of these, 187 people received 39 lashes each, 20 others received between 20 and 30 lashes each, and 13 people received between 10 and 20 lashes each.
These individuals were punished in the provinces of Kabul, Kandahar, Maidan Wardak, Khost, Bamyan, Balkh, Ghazni, Uruzgan, Badghis, Panjshir, Parwan, Paktika, Sar-e Pol, Kunduz, Nimruz, Ghor, Badakhshan, Paktia, Jowzjan, Kapisa, Logar, Faryab, and Baghlan by the Taliban’s vigilante courts.
According to the findings, the Taliban flogged the highest number of individuals in Sar-e Pol, Khost, Kandahar, and Uruzgan. The data shows that this year, the group flogged 65 people in Sar-e Pol, 35 in Khost, 29 in Kandahar, and 18 in Uruzgan.
Table of Individuals Flogged by the Taliban, Categorized by Gender and Provinces:
| No. | Province | Women | Men | Total |
| 1 | Kandahar | 1 | 28 | 29 |
| 2 | Kabul | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 3 | Maidan Wardak | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 4 | Khost | 0 | 35 | 35 |
| 5 | Bamyan | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 6 | Balkh | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | Ghazni | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| 8 | Urozgan | 0 | 18 | 18 |
| 9 | Badghis | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | Panjshir | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | Parwan | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 12 | Paktika | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| 13 | Sar-e Pol | 15 | 50 | 65 |
| 14 | Kunduz | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 15 | Nimroz | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| 16 | Badakhshan | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 17 | Paktia | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 18 | Jawzjan | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 19 | Kapisa | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 20 | Logar | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| 21 | Faryab | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 22 | Ghor | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 23 | Farah | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 24 | Baghlan | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 22 | 198 | 221 | |
Based on the findings of the report, seven women were punished by the Taliban through Vigilante Justice for running away from home, 48 people for extramarital affairs, 88 people for theft, 13 for selling and consuming alcohol, one for drug-related offenses, one for inappropriately touching women, and eight for forgery and deceit.
The report also reveals that 55 people in the provinces of Kandahar, Kabul, Khost, Parwan, Logar, Uruzgan, Sar-e Pol, Farah, and Kunduz were flogged by the Taliban on charges of sodomy.
Taliban’s Vigilante Justice in 2023 (1402 SH)
In 2023, the Taliban publicly flogged at least 104 people in their summary courts, including 25 women and 79 men. According to the report, 33 individuals were punished for extramarital affairs, 25 for theft, 10 for running away from home, 10 for sodomy, 10 for celebrating Valentine’s Day, four for murder, and six for assault. These punishments were carried out in stadiums and other public venues.
Additionally, six people were flogged for recording videos of this Vigilante Justice. The Taliban prohibited spectators from bringing electronic devices to the trials, confiscated phones during body searches, and destroyed them.
The table below shows the number of women and men who were flogged by the Taliban in the year 2023 on various charges:
| No. | Province | Women | Men | Total |
| 1 | Parwan | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| 2 | Maidan Wardak | 3 | 10 | 13 |
| 3 | Sar-e Pol | 1 | 1 | |
| 4 | Herat | 8 | 8 | |
| 5 | Balkh | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | Bamyan | 5 | 8 | 13 |
| 7 | Takhar | 7 | 8 | 15 |
| 8 | Nimruz | 6 | 6 | |
| 9 | Laghman | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | Zabul | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| 11 | Kandahar | 14 | 14 | |
| 12 | Ghor | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 13 | Kabul | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 14 | Paktika | 1 | 1 | |
| 15 | Helmand | 4 | 4 | |
| Total | 25 | 79 | 104 | |
The report further states that 79 of the accused received 30 to 39 lashes each, while 20 others received 20 lashes. The number of lashes given to five individuals remains unspecified. Some of the accused suffered permanent injuries as a result of the Taliban’s flogging.
Taliban’s Vigilante Justice in 2022
In 2022, the Taliban flogged 386 people in 20 provinces for various offenses. These public punishments took place in Khost, Herat, Paktia, Helmand, Laghman, Paktika, Ghor, Badakhshan, Takhar, Sar-e Pol, Parwan, Uruzgan, Jowzjan, Zabul, Nangarhar, Bamyan, Ghazni, Kapisa, Daikundi, and Logar provinces.
| No. | Province | Women | Men | Total | Year |
| 1 | Parwan | 11 | 22 | 33 | 2022 |
| 2 | Khost | 2 | 16 | 18 | 2022 |
| 3 | Herat | 20 | 20 | 2022 | |
| 4 | Laghman | 4 | 10 | 14 | 2022 |
| 5 | Paktika | 9 | 9 | 2022 | |
| 6 | Takhar | 18 | 20 | 38 | 2022 |
| 7 | Ghor | 5 | 25 | 30 | 2022 |
| 8 | Helmand | 1 | 47 | 48 | 2022 |
| 9 | Jawzjan | 5 | 23 | 28 | 2022 |
| 10 | Sar-e Pol | 9 | 14 | 23 | 2022 |
| 11 | Badakhshan | 10 | 39 | 49 | 2022 |
| 12 | Urozgan | 2 | 21 | 23 | 2022 |
| 13 | Nangarhar | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2022 |
| 14 | Bamyan | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2022 |
| 15 | Ghazni | 1 | 1 | 2022 | |
| 16 | Paktia | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2022 |
| 17 | Logar | 3 | 9 | 12 | 2022 |
| 18 | Zabul | 7 | 7 | 2022 | |
| 19 | Daykundi | 6 | 4 | 10 | |
| 20 | Kapisa | 2 | 4 | 6 | |
| Total | 87 | 299 | 386 | ||
According to the report, 299 men and 87 women were punished by the Taliban’s vigilante courts in 2022. Besides flogging in public, the accused were also sentenced to short-term and long-term imprisonment.
The report reveals that 90 individuals were punished for extramarital affairs, 31 for selling and consuming alcohol, 23 women for running away from home, 95 for theft, 13 for speaking to non-mahram individuals on the phone, 29 for gambling, 10 for selling and stealing antiquities, 10 for harassing women, 20 for sodomy, seven women for not adhering to the Taliban’s mandatory hijab, one woman for traveling without a male guardian, and 19 people for selling drugs. The charges for 38 others were not specified.
The findings indicate that 80 people received 30 lashes each, 110 people were flogged between 35 and 50 times, and 100 others received 20 to 30 lashes in public. The number of lashes for 96 individuals remains unknown.
Taliban’s Vigilante Justice in 2021 after August 15
During the second half of 2021, following their takeover of Afghanistan, the Taliban resorted to severe repression, mass arrests, forced evictions, and the killing and disappearance of former security personnel.
According to the report, which was based on statements from the Taliban’s Supreme Court and local sources, the Taliban flogged four people in public in the provinces of Uruzgan and Ghor for extramarital affairs during the second half of 2021. At that time, the Taliban, due to their commitments to the U.S. and the international community, were less likely to publicize their Vigilante Justice.
Most of these floggings took place in stadiums, court premises, and crowded public areas. The Taliban announced these punishments via loudspeakers and distributed flyers to draw people to witness the trials. Some of these punishments were carried out under strict security and in limited spaces. Taliban fighters did not allow anyone to record these punishments, resulting in few documented instances.
In one case, 16 people, including seven women, were flogged inside a mosque in Taloqan, the capital of Takhar province, in front of worshippers.
Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada referred to these public punishments as the implementation of “Shariah limits” and emphasized their continuation in public. He added that the group would once again stone and flog women.
On Sunday, March 24, 2024, Afghanistan’s national radio and television under Taliban control broadcast a speech attributed to Hibatullah. In this speech, he claimed that Westerners do not differentiate between “animals and women.”
He further stated, “We enforce God’s limits. You say it is a violation of women’s rights to stone them. Tomorrow, we will enforce the punishment for adultery. We will stone women in public. We will enforce God’s limits and flog people in public.” After widespread backlash, the Taliban removed the speech from all platforms of Afghanistan’s national radio and television.
Previously, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported in May 2023 that the Taliban had flogged 334 people over six months.
Additionally, Abdul Malik Haqqani, the deputy chief justice of the Taliban, stated at the time that the group had issued 175 execution orders, 37 stoning orders, and four orders to bury people under walls.
To date, the Taliban have executed two people in Ghazni province, one in Farah province, and one in Laghman province in public, with Taliban officials present, on charges of murder. The group claimed to have carried out the “Qisas” (retribution) punishment against the accused, but human rights activists have condemned these actions as violations of human dignity.
Moreover, Dr. Mohammad Amin Ahmadi, a religious scholar and former member of the Afghan government’s peace negotiation team, previously told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that the sentences issued by the Taliban courts for moral crimes are extremely severe. He added that such harsh punishments for moral offenses are “almost contrary” to the global human rights standards that Afghanistan is also committed to. According to him, punishments that violate human dignity and involve torture and suffering are prohibited under both human and ethical principles.
You can read the Persian version of this daily report here:
دادگاههای صحرایی طالبان؛ در کمتر از سه سال ۷۱۵ تن در محضر عام شلاق زده شدهاند
