Taliban’s decision to return to stoning women sparks opposition and outrage worldwide

The recent announcement by the Taliban that it is resuming the practice of publicly stoning women to death has sparked shock and outrage worldwide, according to various news reports.

Human rights groups have accused the international community of remaining silent, allowing the Taliban to carry out these brutal punishments.

The Afghan regime’s decision to reintroduce public stoning and flogging is seen as a step backward, pushing Afghan women back into the darkest days of Taliban rule in the 1990s.

Safia Arefi, a lawyer and head of the Afghan human rights organization Women’s Window of Hope, expressed her concern, stating that Afghan women are now left without anyone to protect them from these horrific punishments.

Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, announced through a broadcast on the Taliban-controlled Radio Television Afghanistan that they would enforce their interpretation of Sharia law, including the public flogging and stoning of women for adultery. Akhundzada justified these actions as a continuation of the Taliban’s struggle against perceived western influences.

While the news has been met with horror, it has not come as a surprise to Afghan women’s rights groups, who have witnessed the dismantling of their rights and protections since the Taliban’s rise to power in August 2021.

According to Afghan Witness, a research group monitoring human rights in Afghanistan, Taliban-appointed judges have ordered 417 public floggings and executions in the past year alone, with 57 of them targeting women. Earlier this year, the Taliban executed people in public at stadiums, urging attendance as a “lesson” while banning any form of filming or photography.

The international community and human rights organizations have condemned the Taliban’s actions as flagrant violations of international human rights laws, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

As the Taliban tightens its grip on power, activists and advocates for women’s rights fear that more oppressive measures may follow if not met with strong opposition. The international community faces mounting pressure to take decisive action and protect the rights and lives of Afghan women.