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“No Forgiveness for People Like You”

Summary The Taliban have told my family that my brothers are on a list…. They searched our house and arrested my older brother. He was released after two days, but during those days my younger brother was arrested and till now we don't know where…
News

Afghanistan: Taliban Kill, ‘Disappear’ Ex-Officials

Raids Target Former Police, Intelligence Officers

(New York) – Taliban forces in Afghanistan have summarily executed or forcibly disappeared more than 100 former police and intelligence officers in just four provinces since taking over the country on August 15, 2021, despite a proclaimed…
Two men holding weapons ride in the bed of a truck
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Afghan People Disappearing

(New York, November 30, 2021) – Taliban forces in Afghanistan have summarily executed or forcibly disappeared more than 100 former police and intelligence officers in just four provinces since taking over the country on August 15…
News

Congress needs to investigate the Pentagon’s failure to protect civilians

A New York Times exposé on a previously undisclosed attack on dozens of noncombatants in Syria is indicative of DOD’s impunity.

Pentagon leadership cannot – or will not – fix its civilian casualties problem. It’s long past time for Congress to step in. On November 17, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, “we are committed to protecting civilians and getting this right...We have…
A view of the Capitol Building in Washington October 15, 2013.
News

Afghanistan: Taliban Crackdown on Media Worsens

Journalists Threatened; New ‘Religious Guidelines’ Ban Women Actors

(New York) – Taliban authorities in Afghanistan are threatening journalists and imposing strict new media guidelines that especially harm women, Human Rights Watch said today. Taliban intelligence officials have made death threats against…
Taliban guards at the entrance of the Ministry of Vice and Virtue, which oversees the implementation of religious regulations, Kabul, Afghanistan on September 21, 2021. 
News

Evicted from Their Office, Al Jazeera Works from a Front Yard in Tunisia

Authorities Arbitrarily Target Media and Critics

I first met Lotfi Hajji some 15 years ago, after Tunisian authorities under President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali had refused a request by Al Jazeera, the Qatar-funded pan-Arab television station, to accredit the Tunisian journalist as their local…
Al Jazeera correspondent Lotfi Hajji reporting from Tunis after Tunisian authorities evicted the pan-Arab television network from its offices, November 5, 2021. 
News

Afghanistan Facing Famine

UN, World Bank, US Should Adjust Sanctions, Economic Policies

(New York) – Donor countries, the United Nations, and international financial institutions should urgently address Afghanistan’s collapsed economy and broken banking system to prevent widespread famine, Human Rights Watch said today. The UN World…
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Afghanistan: Taliban Blocking Female Aid Workers

Discriminatory Rules Hinder Lifesaving Assistance

(New York) – Taliban rules prohibiting most women from operating as aid workers are worsening the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Countrywide restrictions mean that aid will reach fewer families in need, particularly women-headed households.…
Men wait in a line to receive cash at a money distribution organized by the World Food Program in Kabul, Afghanistan, November 3, 2021.
News

Letter to the Government of Canada on Afghanistan Crisis

November 1, 2021 The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau Prime Minister of Canada The Honourable Sean Fraser Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada The Honourable Mélanie Joly Minister of Foreign Affairs Urgent Call to…
Afghans from northern provinces who fled their homes due to the fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security forces take refuge in a public parc in Kabul, August 13, 2021. 
News

From Taliban to Taliban: Cycle of Hope, Despair on Women’s Rights

Secondary schools have reopened for boys but remain closed to the vast majority of girls. Women are banned from most employment; the Taliban government added insult to injury by saying women in their employ could keep their jobs only if they…
Taliban violations of the rights of women and girls are uniquely extreme. No other country openly bars girls from studying on the basis of gender.
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

Afghanistan: Taliban ‘Vice’ Handbook Abusive

Discriminatory Rules, Ignored Protections

(New York) – Taliban officials in Afghanistan’s provinces are using a manual that imposes rules harsher than the abusive policies announced by their leaders in Kabul. And Taliban authorities often do not comply with the rights protections that the…
Taliban fighters stand guard at the entrance to the former Ministry of Women Affairs, which the Taliban has replaced with the Ministry of Vice and Virtue, which oversees the implementation of hardline Islamic rules in Afghanistan.
News

Tunisia: Attack on Director of LGBT Group

Police Officers Suspected; Investigation Needed

Two police officers apparently brutally attacked the director of a Tunis-based LGBT rights group on October 21, 2021, Human Rights Watch said today. The attack on Badr Baabou took place against a backdrop of mounting abuses targeting LGBT activists by…
Badr Baabou, director of Damj Association for Justice and Equality, following his assault by suspected police officers in Tunisia. © 2021 Badr Baabou
News

Afghanistan: Surge in Islamic State Attacks on Shia

ISIS Affiliate’s Targeted Killings Amount to Crimes Against Humanity

(New York) –The Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP), an armed group affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS), is carrying out bombings and other targeted attacks against Afghanistan’s Shia religious minority that amount to crimes against…
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News

Afghanistan: Taliban Forcibly Evict Minority Shia

Hazaras, Former Civil Servants Targets of Collective Punishment, Land-Grabbing

(New York) – Taliban officials in several provinces across Afghanistan have forcibly displaced residents partly to distribute land to their own supporters, Human Rights Watch said today. Many of these evictions have targeted Hazara Shia…
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Afghanistan: Asylum Seekers Need Pathways to Protection

UN Agencies, Governments Should Improve Assistance to Afghans at Risk

(New York) – Afghans at risk who have fled or are seeking to flee Afghanistan need greater international support, Human Rights Watch said today in a new policy briefing paper. The United Nations system and concerned governments should improve their…
Afghans from northern provinces who fled their homes due to the fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security forces take refuge in a public parc in Kabul, August 13, 2021. 
News

When Foreign Men Talk to the Taliban About Women's Rights

It Matters when the UN, Governments, and Aid Agencies Send Only Men to Talk to the Taliban

What do Turkmenistan and UNICEF have in common? How about the United Kingdom and the UNDP, and at least nine other countries and four other humanitarian and development organizations? They all appear to…
Taliban Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, center, meets with Sir Simon Gass, the British prime minister's high representative for Afghan transition, left, at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, October 5, 2021.
News

Turkey: Soldiers Beat, Push Afghan Asylum Seekers Back to Iran

Authorities Deny Afghans Right to Seek Asylum

(New York) – Turkish authorities are summarily pushing Afghan asylum seekers crossing into the country from Iran back to Iran, in violation of international law, Human Rights Watch said today. Six Afghans, five of whom were pushed back, told Human…
A Turkish soldier stands at the Turkish border with Iran
News

No stability and peace without protecting women and girls

Report by Human Rights Watch Associate Director for Women’s Rights, Heather Barr

The plight of Afghan women under the Taliban was used in many countries to convince voters to support the US-led military intervention in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks on the US. “Only the terrorists and the Taliban forbid education to women,”…
Women gather to demand their rights under Taliban rule during a protest in Kabul, Afghanistan on September 3, 2021.