UN outcry: Taliban judicial officials said Tuesday that four people, including a woman, were publicly flogged in eastern Afghanistan for allegedly committing offenses such as "illicit relations" and "running away from home.”

The United Nations has condemned such punishment being increasingly inflicted on Afghans under Taliban rule.

The Supreme Court of the de facto radical Afghan rulers announced the latest punishments Tuesday, saying they were done in Nangarhar province after a local court sentenced the four "criminals" to 39 lashes each.

The Taliban’s top court reported earlier this week that five Afghans, including a woman, were flogged in public 39 times each in Parwan and Faryab provinces for committing acts that are considered crimes in Afghanistan, including adultery and homosexuality. It stated that the individuals were also sentenced to jail terms ranging from six months to one year.

Since regaining power in 2021, Taliban leaders have imposed a criminal justice system in line with their strict interpretation of the Islamic law of Sharia, leading to the public flogging of hundreds of Afghan men and women. This has drawn persistent outrage and calls from the U.N. to halt the practice for being in breach of international laws and human rights.

Richard Bennett, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, has stated in his latest report, released Tuesday, that the use of corporal punishment by the Taliban amounts to “torture and other ill-treatment.”

Bennett documented an “alarming increase” in such punishment since the beginning of 2024. He quoted the Taliban’s Supreme Court as reporting that 276 Afghans, including 46 women, were publicly punished between January and August.

“While the vast majority reported in the 80 official announcements were for crimes such as theft and adultery, individuals were also punished for ‘crimes’ such as sodomy, homosexuality, running away from home, and aiding a woman’s escape from home — underscoring the specific risks faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other gender-diverse persons and cisgender women,” the U.N. envoy reported.

Bennet said that the Taliban publicly flogged 63 people, including 15 women, in a single day in June, saying each person was lashed 15 to 39 times.

He questioned the enforcement of the criminal justice system by the Taliban, saying that the situation is worsened by the absence of legal protections, including access to lawyers and denying other due process rights. “There are credible reports of courts in several provinces denying defendants, including children, access to their lawyers,” Bennett said.

The report also detailed an alarming rise in cases of sexual violence against Afghan women in Taliban custody.

The Taliban defend their policies, including restrictions on Afghan women’s access to employment and work, saying their governance is in line with the Sharia. They reject international criticism of the Taliban government as an interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan.

No country has officially recognized the Taliban as the legitimate ruler of the war-torn, impoverished South Asian nation, citing human rights concerns and the treatment of Afghan women. VOA/SP