Before a crowd of thousands in a packed stadium in the Afghanistan capital city of Kabul, Taliban regime soldiers delivered 100 lashes to a young man and woman who were accused of having sex without being married. The man collapsed as he was being whipped; the woman sat on the grass as a Taliban judged lashed her back and legs. This abuse comes on the heels of other atrocities committed by the Taliban, including requiring religious minorities in Afghanistan to dress in yellow so all may identify them, shutting down several of the World Food Program bread bakeries that employed Afghan women, and closing four UN offices that were instrumental to peacekeeping efforts in the country.
Since 1994, the Taliban regime has terrorized the people of Afghanistan, especially women and girls, imposing harsh decrees forbidding women from leaving their home unaccompanied by a man, requiring women to wear the restrictive “burqa” clothing, prohibiting women from going to school or working most jobs outside the home. Women have been beat, tortured, or even killed for violating Taliban decrees.
