Date: 16/05/1446

Implementation of Discretionary Criminal Sentence Against One Offender in Baghlan Province
Based on the ruling of the Primary Urban Court of Baghlan Province, a discretionary criminal sentence was executed on 16/05/1446 Hijri Qamari against a woman convicted of procuring (facilitating prostitution), at the premises of the said court.The Primary Court had sentenced the offender to six months of enforceable imprisonment and 30 lashes as discretionary punishment.
This ruling of the Primary Urban Court was implemented in the presence of Honorable Mawlawi Essam-ul-Haq (Haqqani), Chief Judge of the Primary Urban Court, along with heads of court departments, judicial personnel, civil and military officials, and a number of local residents.

The execution of discretionary corporal punishment and imprisonment against a woman in Baghlan Province constitutes cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment and reflects the continued use of corporal punishment by Taliban judicial authorities as a tool of moral enforcement. The implementation of lashings at court premises, in the presence of judicial and state officials, normalizes physical violence within formal judicial processes. The conviction of a woman for “procuring” criminalizes alleged private conduct and disproportionately targets women through gendered moral offenses. Imposed through judicial proceedings lacking independence, transparency, and due process guarantees, the punishments amount to arbitrary punishment and violate fundamental protections relating to bodily integrity, liberty, personal autonomy, and gender equality under international human rights law.