AFGHANISTAN: On International Women’s Day, do not forget Afghan women and girls
Five women flogged
In February, the Taliban’s High Court stated that 13 individuals, including five women, should be sentenced to flogging in Bamyan province
Sources indicate that the flogging sentences for these individuals were executed by the primary court’s judicial department in Bamyan after confirmation by the appellate court of this province.
As per the announcement, five of these individuals were sentenced to two years of imprisonment and 39 lashes each for extramarital relations, while four others were convicted of fleeing home, each sentenced to one year of imprisonment and 39 lashes.
Two individuals were also sentenced to seven years of imprisonment and 39 lashes each for murder and motorbike theft.
The Taliban’s High Court has stated that two others were sentenced to one year of imprisonment and 30 lashes each for “illicit relations.”
This news has sparked widespread debate and concern over the enforcement of such punishments in Bamyan Province.
By Rahmati
Taliban decrees on clothing & male guardians leave Afghan women scared to go out alone, UN says
Afghan women feel scared or unsafe leaving their homes alone because of Taliban decrees and enforcement campaigns on clothing and male guardians, according to a report from the United Nations mission in Afghanistan.
The report, issued at mid-February, came days before a U.N.-convened meeting in the Qatari capital was set to start, with member states and special envoys to Afghanistan due to discuss engagement with the Taliban and the country’s crises, including the human rights situation.
The Taliban — which took over Afghanistan in 2021 during the final weeks of U.S. and NATO withdrawal from the country — have barred women from most areas of public life and stopped girls from going to school beyond the sixth grade as part of harsh measures they imposed despite initial promises of a more moderate rule.
They are also restricting women’s access to work, travel and healthcare if they are unmarried or don’t have a male guardian, and arresting those who don’t comply with the Taliban’s interpretation of hijab, or Islamic head scarf.
The U.N. mission’s report said the decrees are being enforced through arrest, harassment and intimidation. Women said they increasingly fear going to public spaces owing to the threat of arrest and the “long-lasting stigma and shame” associated with being taken into police custody.(AP)