UNAMA: Taliban Publicly Punished at Least 180 People in the First Three Months of 2025

Photo: © 2011 Ton Koene

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), in its latest quarterly report on the human rights situation in the country, has reported a significant increase in corporal punishments by the Taliban. This report covers the period from January to March 2025.

According to UNAMA’s findings, in the first three months of the current year, at least 180 individuals including 142 men, 35 women, and 3 girls have been subjected to corporal punishment publicly by the Taliban.

Part of the report also references specific cases. For example, the public punishment of 18 individuals including four women in Khost province was carried out on February 23 in the presence of local officials and judges from the primary court. Furthermore, on February 26, 13 more individuals were publicly flogged in the sports stadium of Sheberghan city in Jawzjan province.

This report is published while earlier, United Nations human rights experts, in a statement quoting the Taliban’s Supreme Court, had stated that since the beginning of this year alone, at least 213 people including 169 men and 44 women have been flogged by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The UN experts have called on the Taliban to immediately end inhumane punishments, particularly public floggings and executions, and to respect their international human rights obligations.