and corporal punishment. At least one public execution was reported as of June. The de facto Supreme Court in Afghanistan reported that hundreds of individuals had been sentenced to qisas (retribution in kind), including stoning. The use of public corporal punishment amounting to torture and other ill-treatment continued. UNAMA documented that 274 men, 58 women and two boys had been subjected to public flogging between November 2022 and April 2023, and 103 individuals had been sentenced to such punishments as of May. FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND BELIEF Religious minorities including Shia, Sikhs, Hindus, Christians, Ahmadiyya and Ismaili continued to face marginalization, prejudice and discrimination. Restrictions on religious events and celebrations were imposed citing security reasons. These included restrictions on the Ashura commemoration in July, which is mainly observed by Shia Muslims. On 28 July, in Ghazni province, four Shia-Hazaras, including a child and a woman, were killed and six others were wounded by Taliban forces shooting to disperse Ashura commemorations. The Taliban excluded Shia jurisprudence from the education system so that religious teaching was exclusively based on the Sunni sect of Islam. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION The space for freedom of expression and media continued to shrink drastically. In March, at least two journalists were reportedly killed in a bomb attack. Dozens were arbitrarily arrested and harassed for reports critical of the Taliban or violating Taliban rules. At least 64 journalists were detained by the Taliban for varying periods between August 2021 and August 2023. Murtaza Behboodi, a Franco-Afghan journalist, was released after nine months’ detention. More than 80% of women journalists stopped working between August 2021 and August 2023 because of increasing 72 restrictions. Other restrictions included women only appearing on television with their faces covered. The Taliban forcibly closed the Hamisha Bahar radio and television station for 20 days in Nangarhar province for running mixedgender classes in journalism. Between the August 2021 Taliban takeover and August 2023, more than half of registered media outlets closed, and two thirds of all journalists left their jobs. Repression of those who expressed views critical of the Taliban continued, including against people who expressed their criticisms via social media. Among them was Rasoul Parsi, a university professor arrested in March and who remained in detention at the end of the year. FREEDOM OF PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY Unlawful and excessive force was used to attack peaceful protests, including many led by women. The UN reported that between March and June, 95 protests led by women had been documented across Afghanistan. The Taliban reportedly used firearms, water cannons and stun guns to disperse protests, including a women-led protest against the forced closure of beauty salons in the capital, Kabul, on 18 July. Arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances of protesters continued and many protests were moved to online platforms as a result. HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS Activists, human rights defenders, and members of civil society continued to face violence, intimidation, and surveillance, with many being subjected to arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance and unlawful detention. Detainees suffered torture and other ill-treatment, including sexual abuse, according to UN reports. Nida Parwani and Zhulia Parsi, two women human rights activists, were arrested on 19 and 27 September respectively, together with members of their family, and released in December. Matiullah Wesa, an education rights activist, was released in October after The State of the World’s Human Rights