By: Mohammad Anwer Rahimi
Translated by: Mohammad Sakhi Rezaie
Taliban, as a group that has a long-standing connection with religious extremism, international terrorism, ethnocentrism, misogyny (anti women policies) and violence, after regaining control over Afghanistan, deprived women of access to economic resources, education, participation in social and public space, and other rights and privileges. And the benefits of modern life were deprived. In addition, one of the other consequences of the Taliban government, which has put the life and human dignity of Afghan women in serious danger, is the intensification of all kinds of physical violence, such as whipping them without proving the crime and holding a fair Sharia court, in field courts and in the public space. There is no doubt that holding a fair trial based on human rights standards by the Taliban is not much expected; But their decisions are not in accordance with Islamic Sharia too. Rather, each of the Taliban, including soldiers and commanders, judges and district governors, based on false assumptions, issue and execute whipping and imprisonment sentences against women anywhere and based on their own tastes.
What follows are examples of violence by Taliban forces, authorities and courts against Afghan citizens, especially women, in 2022. It is astonishing to note here that all the women punished for committing adultery or having sex outside of marriage have been sentenced to be flogged and imprisoned by the Taliban in stadiums and other social places – which should be the place of cultivation of human mind and body.
The local officials of the Taliban in Kandahar, on June 30, 2022, announced that their court had sentenced three people to 39 lashes and one year in prison on charges of theft and extramarital sex and it has been performed in front of everyone.
Badakhsahn local sources had reported on July 20, 2022 that the Taliban had punished a woman and her daughter for divorcing her husband and marrying another man in Nasi district of this province. The Silk Road Weekly wrote in a report that this mother and daughter were sentenced to 100 lashes each, by the order of Juma Fateh, the Taliban district governor for Nasi district, which was executed in front of everyone.
Local sources from Ghor, on July 20, 2022, reported that the Taliban had whipped a man and a woman in this province. At the same time, the Taliban governor’s office in Ghor announced in a newsletter that a man and a woman were flogged by the court of Ghor on charges of illicit relations, in front of everyone, to serve as an example to others. According to this newsletter, each of the defendants has been sentenced to 39 lashes and one year in prison.
Local sources in Takhar, on July 21,2022, reported that the Taliban had whipped a woman “because she did not have chaperone” in the Darqad district of this province. One of the residents of Darqad, while confirming this report, told Silk Road that this 30-year-old woman was whipped by the Taliban in front of everyone, even though she was wearing a veil (burqa).
The security officials of the Taliban in Ghor, on July 21, 2022, had announced that they had arrested a man and a woman on the charge of running away from home. At the same time, the Silk Road Weekly wrote in a report that these two were residents of Qads district of Badghis who were arrested by the Taliban after fleeing to Ghor.
Local sources in Paktia reported on July 2022 that the Taliban stoned a six-year-old girl to death in Rouhani Babai district of this province.
Mohammad Janat, the father of this child, confirmed this report and said that his daughter was kidnapped from his house on the second day of Eid al-Adha. “After much searching, I found my daughter’s petrified body a day later in a ruin.”
The Silk Road Weekly, on October 7, 2022, quoting local sources in Zabul, reported that the Taliban had whipped two women and three men and put them in prison.
Rahmatullah Hamad Niazi, the head of Taliban information and culture department in Zabul, also announced that these people were sentenced to punishment for adultery and theft. According to local sources, the Taliban arrested two women and one man on the charge of adultery, each of them was sentenced to 39 lashes and two years in prison, and the other two men were sentenced to 21 lashes and one month in prison on the charge of theft and the sentence of whipping has been applied to them in front of everyone.
A video published in the media from the city of Qalat, the center of Zabul, also showed that the Taliban were going in groups to the place where three men and two women were taken to be lashed.
One of the officials of the Taliban security command in Takhar had told the media on September 12, 2022 that they had arrested a woman and three men in the city of Talaqan, the capital of this province, on charges of having an illicit relationship.
Local sources in Nangarhar had told the media on September 12, 2022 that the Taliban arrested a man and a woman on charges of having an illicit relationship and handed them over to the woman’s family. According to the sources, the woman’s family members shot the accused in “Sorch” village of Kuzkunar district of Nangarhar.
Local sources in Ghor reported on September 13, 2022 that the Taliban sentenced a girl and a boy to 39 lashes for having sex outside of marriage and the verdict has been executed on them in front of everyone.
Local sources in Wares district of Bamyan told the media on Septermber 13, 2022 that a young woman was stabbed 10 times in Tagawghar village of this district on charges of having an illicit relationship with a person named Sayed Mohammad Hossein Mortazavi Beheshti, director of the Taliban population registry. According to the sources, when this Taliban member came to that woman’s house, the woman’s uncle along with several other people got to know about the incident and rushed to her niece’s house. Seeing them, the man ran away from the place; But the woman was seriously injured by her cuncle with a knife. Beheshti, in response to the publication of this news, said that he had a temporary marriage with this young woman.
A local source in Kapisa told the media on September 20, 2022 that the Taliban had sentenced two women and two young men to 49 lashes in Hessa Awal district of Kapisa for having extramarital affairs. Also, it had been performed in front of everyone.
A local Taliban official in Logar, on October 24, 2022 told Afghanistan free Media that according to the verdict of the provincial court, as a result of the application of sharia restrictions on three women and 11 men who were accused of theft and “moral crimes”, they were flogged in front of everyone and then sent to prison to serve a short term. Also, the local Taliban officials in Bamyan announced that they whipped a girl and a young boy on the charge of having a premarital relationship. These two, young boy and girl, were publicly whipped 29 times in front of the broken statues of Buddha in “Shahid Mazari” stadium on Thursday, November 17,2022.
Etilaatroz newspaper quoted its sources in Bamyan and wrote that Arzoo and Mohammad came to Bamyan from Kabul for fun 40 days ago and had a romantic relationship. But they were arrested by Taliban forces from Bandamir National Park and tried on the charge of having a premarital relationship.
The local Taliban authorities in Kandahar announced on 26 October 2022 that they sentenced five people to be whipped and imprisoned. An official of the local Taliban court, who declined to be named, confirmed this incident and said that the Taliban court sentenced a man and a woman accused of illicit relations to 39 lashes and one year in prison, and three men accused of theft was sentenced to suffer 30 lashes in front of everyone and seven months in prison.
The local Taliban officials in Ghor had announced in a newsletter on November 23, 2022 that they had whipped 11 men and one woman in Ghor. The media office of the Taliban governor in Ghor wrote in a newsletter that these people, who were arrested on charges of theft, drinking and moral corruption, were sentenced to 25 to 39 lashes by the Taliban court, and one woman was accused of Moral corruption has been sentenced to 39 lashes. The sentence of whipping has been carried out on them in front of everyone.
The Taliban Supreme Court in Kabul, on December 1, 2022, announced that 21 people, including six women, were sentenced to 20 to 39 lashes on the suspicion of committing debauchery, having illicit relations and running away from home consuming alcohol and sodomy. According to the approval of the Supreme Court of the Taliban, the sentences issued by the Taliban forces have been implemented in front of everyone.
Local sources from Ghor reported on 13 December 2022 that the Taliban arrested six men and one woman on charges such as alcohol consumption and moral corruption, and the appeals court of this group in Ghor sentenced each of the defendants to 21 to 39 lashes. According to this report, the orders were enforced in the sports stadium of Firuzkoh city, the center of Ghor, in front of everyone.
Etilaatroz newspaper, quoting its local sources in Zabul and Helmand, reported on December 14, 2022 that the Taliban had whipped 27 people, including two women, in the stadiums of the cities of Qalat and Lashkargah, the centers of these two provinces, in front of everyone.
Sources in Zabul have confirmed that among the accused, one of the women was given 39 lashes and three years in prison for having an illicit relationship, another was given 20 lashes and one year in prison for the crime of running away from home, and five men were accused of theft. sodomy and having illicit relations with women have been sentenced to 10 to 39 lashes and one month to one year in prison.
According to Mohammad Qasim Riaz, 20 men have been sentenced to 35 to 39 lashes and short-term imprisonment on charges of theft and having illicit relations with women. Taliban sources and people in the mentioned provinces have confirmed that the Taliban whipped the accused in front of everyone.
Muazuddin Ahmadi, the head of Taliban cultural and information department in Badakhshan, announced on December 22, 2022 that the Taliban court sentenced 25 people, including four women, to 30 to 39 lashe and short-term imprisonment on charges of moral corruption and 21 men on charges of moral corruption, drinking and selling alcohol.
Confirming this issue, local sources have reported that the sentence of whipping was applied to the male and female defendants in front of everyone in Badakhshan’s New City Sports Stadium.
Local sources in Kunduz reported on December 22, 2022 that the Taliban arrested 10 people, including four women, on charges such as running away from home and committing moral corruption, and six men on charges such as theft and having illicit relationships, to endure 30 39 lashes have been condemned. The sentence of whipping was carried out in front of everyone at Khurshid Stadium in Imam Sahib district of Kunduz.
Local sources from Uruzgan had reported to the media on December 22, 2022 that the Taliban had whipped 20 men in the sports stadium of Trinkut city, the capital of this province.
Agha Wali Qureshi, head of Taliban cultural and information director in Uruzgan, confirmed this report and announced that these people were sentenced to 20 to 39 lashes and eight to 18 months of imprisonment by the Taliban court on charges of theft and moral corruption. He also stated that the sentence of whipping was supposed to be executed on three women in front of everyone; But it has been postponed for some reasons.
The Supreme Court of the Taliban announced in a newsletter on December 31, 2022 that four men and one woman were sentenced to punishment by the primary court of Gardiz city, the center of Paktia, on charges such as theft and committing moral corruption. In this newsletter, there was no explanation about the amount of punishment for the defendants; But it was stated that the punishment was executed on the accused in front of everyone.
Local sources from Daikundi had reported on January 10, 2023 that the Taliban had whipped three young boys and four young girls in front of everyone for accusations such as engaging in illicit relationships and having fun. According to this report, the Taliban primary court sentenced one of the boys to endure 39 lashes and one year of imprisonment, the other two boys to endure 25 lashes and one month of imprisonment, and among the four girls, two of them endured 29 lashes and two others to one-month imprisonment and 15 lashes and 10 days’ imprisonment.
Local sources from Badakhshan said on January 17, 2023 that the Taliban primary court in Baharak district of this province sentenced a boy and a young girl to 38 lashes in front of everyone on the charge of having illicit relations. One day after the court verdict, the convicts were whipped in front of everyone.
On January 17, 2023, Attaullah Zaid, the spokesman of the Taliban governor in Kandahar, announced that the Taliban had flogged nine people for adultery and theft. According to Zaid’s statements, the Taliban court arrested three people on the charge of adultery and hey have been sentenced to 39 lashes and one-year imprisonment and six others who were arrested on the charge of theft have been sentenced to 35 lashes and 7 months imprisonment. The sentence of whipping was executed in front of everyone in Kandahar football field.
The Bakhtar News Agency, which operates under the supervision of the Taliban, confirmed in a report on February 7, 2023 that a woman in Ghor was whipped 39 times and five men were lashed 15 to 39 by the Taliban in front of everyone in the sports stadium of Firuzkoh city on the charge of having an illicit relationship, producing and consuming wine.
People’s sources in Navehmish district of Daikundi reported on February 7, 2023 that the Taliban arrested a man and two women on charges of having an illicit relationship and sentenced each of them to suffer 25 to 39 lashes in front of everyone. This sentence was executed without delay in front of hundreds of people.
Public sources in Badakhshan had reported on February 17, 2023 that the Taliban had flogged nine men and two women on charges such as having extramarital affairs in this province. Officials of the local Taliban court in Badakhshan, confirming this report, announced the charges against these people as moral corruption and theft.
One of the eyewitnesses said that the Taliban sentenced each of the defendants to receive 39 lashes and the sentence was executed in front of everyone in Batash village.
In the latest case, local sources in Jabal al-Saraj district of Parwan told the media on Saturday, March 6, 2023, that the Taliban whipped four young boys and two young girls in front of the audience.
As mentioned, the violence against women in front of everyone’s eyes, which is mostly based on false suspicions and accusations and before the proof of Sharia and legal crime, by the Taliban, has caused many reactions at the global level. In a report, Amnesty International described the public flogging of the accused by the Taliban as the group’s return to cruel and extreme methods and called for an immediate stop. The organization, in another part of its report, said: “This group clearly does not believe in the basic principles of human rights, and in an alarming slide, they are moving towards what appears to be a bitter reminder of their rule three decades ago. ”
Rina Amiri, the US Special Envoy for Afghan women, girls and Human Rights, also described in a tweet, the implementation of Sharia limits on women in front of everyone’s eyes as terrifying and considered the expansion of the Taliban group’s rebellion against the world as an indication of their acceptance of the policies of their previous era.
However, Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman of the Taliban government, announced on February 11, 2022, that Hebatullah Akhundzadeh, the leader of this group, in a meeting with the judges of the current government, emphasized the implementation of the Sharia ruling and the implementation of Hudud and retribution.
In my opinion, hundreds of women who have been punished by the Taliban in front of everyone in the last year, their crime was adultery/sex outside of marriage. But the question is, according to the proofs of adultery in Hanafi jurisprudence, how and by what means did the Taliban succeed in proving the crime of these victims? According to Hanafi jurisprudence, “the proofs of the crime of adultery are proven by the testimony of witnesses, confession, corroboration, refusal to curse, and the judge’s knowledge.” If four witnesses testify that we saw such and such a person committing adultery, like seeing a stick in a jar and a rope in a well. If the witnesses deny during the testimony or before the testimony or after the testimony, or if their number does not appear in the testimony, the amount of qadhaf will be applied to him and the amount will be deducted from the accused person. If the accused confesses to adultery without coercion or threat four times and in front of Imam Abu Hanifah in four assemblies, the limit will apply to them. While confessing, the accused must be alert, awake and in the sharia court before the ruler or judge.
According to the above jurisprudential/Sharia evidence, the punishment of women in front of everyone by the Taliban, regardless of international and human rights standards, not only does not comply with the principles of Hanafi jurisprudence; Rather, their attitude towards women is more subject to personal views, extremist tendency and strict ethnic Pashtun traditions.
Add Comment