UN experts call on Taliban to end "brutal" forms of punishment

Kabul [Afghanistan], May 13: United Nations-appointed human rights experts called on the Taliban to end the "brutal and undignified" forms of punishment immediately, Khaama Press reported.
A group of UN-appointed ten Special Rapporteurs, including Richard Bennett and members of the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls, called on the Taliban to end "brutal and undignified" forms of punishment, including stoning, flogging, and burying people under walls. The experts expressed serious concerns regarding the use of capital punishment without giving fair trial guarantees. The discrimination against women is so evident and deep-rooted in Afghanistan.
The statement said that the urgent call by the group came in response to an announcement by the Taliban-appointed Supreme Court in favour of brutal punishment, according to Khaama Press.
"The de facto deputy chief of the court announced on May 4 that they had sentenced 175 individuals to "retribution in kind" punishments, and 37 to be stoned. Dozens of others were condemned to "crimes against God" punishments such as lashing," said the press statement.
The experts noted that "women are more likely to be sentenced to death by stoning, due to deeply entrenched discrimination and stereotypes against them... held by the exclusively male judiciary".
They said that stoning or being buried alive under a wall constituted torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. "These cruel punishments are contrary to international law."
According to a recent report by the UN Assistance Mission (UNAMA) in the country, 274 men, 58 women and two boys have been publicly flogged, and one judicially sanctioned execution has been carried out within the last six months alone, reported Khaama Press.
Afghanistan's women have faced numerous challenges since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Girls and women in the war-torn country have no access to education, employment and public spaces.
The de facto authorities have barred girls from attending secondary school, restricted women and girls' freedom of movement, excluded women from most areas of the workforce and banned women from using parks, gyms and public bathhouses.
Source: Times of Oman