Search Results

Sort by
News

A Bleak Future with Education Under Attack in Afghanistan

Bomb Blasts in Kabul’s Hazara Neighborhood Deepen Students’, Families’ Fears

Afghanistan’s children are bleeding again. Multiple bomb blasts on April 19 outside a high school and an education center in Kabul’s Dasht-e Barchi neighborhood left at least six people dead and twenty wounded, including children, and casualties could…
A Taliban fighter stands guard at the site of an explosion in front of a school, in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 19, 2022.
News

Sudan: ICC Holds First Darfur Trial

Landmark Case of ‘Janjaweed’ Militia Leader Opens April 5

(The Hague) – The International Criminal Court’s trial of Ali Kosheib, or Kushayb, will open on April 5, 2022, and offers the first opportunity to see a leader face prosecution for massive crimes committed in Darfur nearly 20 years ago, Human…
Ali Mohammed Ali, known as Ali Kosheib or Kushayb, in The Hague, Netherlands. during the opening of his confirmation hearing on charges for crimes in Darfur, Sudan.
News

Afghan Girls Grieve After School Ban Reinstated

Taliban’s Attack on Girls’ Right to Education Continues

“For Afghan girls, the earth is unbearable, and the sky is unreachable.” Atefa, 16, used this Farsi proverb to express her despair after the Taliban blocked girls from attending secondary school this week, breaking a pledge to end the ban. I…
Afghan girls attend class at a high school in Herat, Afghanistan, November 25, 2021.
News

Taliban Close Girls’ Secondary Schools in Afghanistan, Again

Action Taken Days Before Key Donor Pledging Conference

On March 21 the Taliban promised to reopen all schools in Afghanistan, ending their seven-month de-facto ban on girls attending secondary school. Two days later, as many girls were preparing for the first day of the new school term, the Taliban…
A woman holds a protest sign that reads "Education is our right"
News

Afghanistan: Reopening Girls’ Schools Needs Watching

Measuring Taliban Pledges Against Practice

(New York) – The Taliban’s pledge to allow all girls’ secondary schools in Afghanistan to reopen on March 23, 2022, needs careful monitoring, Human Rights Watch said today. Aziz Ahmad Rayan, an Afghan education ministry spokesman, told the media on…
Afghan girls exit classrooms at Tajrobawai Girls High School in Herat, one of the few provinces where the Taliban permitted girls' secondary schools to reopen, November 25, 2021.
News

Afghanistan: Supporting Education for Girls, Women

Policy Recommendations for International Donors

(New York) – International donors seeking to fund education for girls and women in Afghanistan should carefully consider and address the human rights concerns, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The Taliban have said that they…
Girls gather to go home from school.
News

Four Ways to Support Girls’ Access to Education in Afghanistan

Lessons for donors from Afghan students, teachers, and principals

A crucial deadline looms for girls in Afghanistan: the Taliban say they will reopen all girls’ secondary schools in late March 2022, when the new school year commences in most provinces. But it is far from clear what that will mean in practice if…
Girls gather to go home from school.
News

Afghan Girls’ Education: ‘I Don’t Think I Have a Future’

Closing Secondary Schools to Girls Causing Lasting Harm

“I want to go to school and become an independent woman who chooses and decides for her life,” 16-year-old Nasiba told me. “If I am educated, men wouldn’t dare to interfere but if I am not, they will decide my whole life for me.” She lives in Kabul…
Women demonstrate for their rights during a gathering for National Teachers Day in Kabul, Afghanistan, October 5, 2021.
News

With Taliban in Power, Only International Action Can Save Afghans

Afghanistan is Emblematic of Crises the ICC Was Created to Address

The Taliban’s rapid takeover of Afghanistan has magnified concerns about an accelerating human rights crisis in the country. Already the world’s deadliest conflict since 2017, Afghanistan had seen a steady rise in attacks on civilians…
News

Explosive Weapons Attacks on Afghanistan Schools Increase

Attacks on Education Rose 33 Percent Globally, Prompting Calls for Urgent Action

(New York) – Explosive weapons were used to attack about 40 schools in Afghanistan during the first six months of 2021, as Taliban forces took over key territories, the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA) said in a report…
The mother of a schoolgirl who was among those killed in the brutal May 8, 2021 bombing of the Sayed ul-Shuhada girls' school stands inside a classroom with bouquets of flowers on empty desks as a tribute to the dead, in Kabul, Afghanistan, May 16, 2021. 
News

Joint Letter to Sudan's Transitional Government on ICC Handovers

Sovereign Council and Council of Ministers, Republic of the Sudan His Excellency Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, Republic of the Sudan Nasredeen Abdulbari, Minister of Justice, Republic of the Sudan 26 August 2021 Re: Transfer of ICC Suspects…
News

ICC: First Major Hearings on Darfur Crimes

Sudan Should Transfer al-Bashir, Other Suspects to International Criminal Court

(Hague) – The International Criminal Court’s first major hearings in the case of Ali Kosheib on May 24, 2021, are an important step toward justice for grave crimes committed in Darfur, Sudan, Human Rights Watch said today. But the absence of four…
Displaced people living in Ardamata camp in El Geneina, capital of West Darfur, welcoming the start of proceedings in the case against “Janjaweed” militia leader Ali Kosheib at the International Criminal Court. Photos courtesy of Radio Dabanga www.dabangasudan.org. 
News

Afghan Women, Girls Should Not Pay for Their Government’s Abuses

Donors Should Sustain Vital Services While Decrying Violations

Donor countries to Afghanistan say they want to keep protecting the human rights of women and girls, even as international troops prepare to depart the country. But a bill introduced in the United States Senate last week raises tricky issues about how…
Women walking Nadir Khan Overlooking Kabul womens rights us withdrawl
News

Killing Schoolgirls in Afghanistan

Attackers Target Girls Leaving Kabul High School

Scenes from Sayed ul-Shuhada High School in Kabul, Afghanistan, where as many as 85 people including many schoolgirls were killed in an attack this weekend, should break anyone’s heart. They certainly broke mine. In 2017 a filmmaker and I spent a week…
Books, notebooks, and other school supplies are left behind after May 8's deadly bombings near a school in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, May 9, 2021.
News

Afghanistan: US Should Prioritize Rights, Civilian Protection

Boost Aid for Civil Society, Education, Health, Media

(New York) – The US government should address fears of increased insecurity fueled by its announced plan to withdraw all military forces from Afghanistan by committing to expanded support for human rights, including women’s rights, Human Rights…
President Joe Biden speaks from the Treaty Room in the White House on Wednesday, April 14, 2021, about the withdrawal of the remainder of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. 

Refine Search

Filter by Country
Filter by Topic
Filter by Type
Filter by News Category