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Deadly Afghanistan Attack Shows Dangers to Humanitarian Workers

Bring to Justice Those Responsible for Killing 10 Deminers

The United Nations, governments, and humanitarian groups working to eradicate landmines and explosive remnants of war are condemning the reprehensible killing of 10 Halo Trust deminers and wounding of 16 others in Afghanistan on Tuesday. As a co-…
Clearance operator from the Halo Trust clearing a steep, rocky hillside in Afghanistan.
News

Afghanistan: Exiting Forces Should Protect Interpreters

NATO Members, Australia Should Expedite Relocation of Local Staff

(Washington, DC) – Countries with troops departing Afghanistan should accelerate programs to resettle former Afghan interpreters and other employees who are increasingly at risk from Taliban forces, Human Rights Watch said today. The planned…
Former Afghan interpreters hold placards during a protest against the U.S. government and NATO in Kabul, Afghanistan on April 30, 2021.
News

Persons with Disabilities in the Context of Armed Conflict

Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Human Rights Watch welcomes the opportunity to provide input to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for his thematic report to the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly regarding the rights of persons with…
News

Doing Human Rights in Afghanistan Right this Time

After the withdrawal the US can use aid as leverage, but it can no longer ignore the corruption festering in the system.

On May 8, 2021, explosions targeting the Sayed ul-Shuhada school in Kabul killed 90 people, most of them girls from Afghanistan’s Shia Hazara community. The horrific attack confirmed the fears of many Afghans that, as the war intensifies and U.S…
Women walking Nadir Khan Overlooking Kabul womens rights us withdrawl
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

Afghanistan: Deterring Another Sayed ul-Shuhada Attack

The slaughter of as many as 85 people in Kabul on May 8, most of them schoolgirls between ages 11 and 17, and most of them Hazara Shia, has set a new low for depravity in Afghanistan, where decades of war have featured frequent atrocities. The…
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.
Video

Killing Schoolgirls in Afghanistan

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 at…
Video

Women and Girls Face Barriers to Health Care in Afghanistan

(New York, May 6, 2021) – Falling donor support for essential services in Afghanistan is reducing women’s access to essential health care, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. More cuts are likely in coming months following the announcement…
Report

“I Would Like Four Kids — If We Stay Alive”

Summary Over the past two decades, Afghanistan has depended on international donor support to fund essential services like health care. But this donor support has been falling for years and will likely to continue do so—perhaps precipitously—…
News

Afghanistan: Health Care for Women Hit by Aid Cuts

Dropping Donor Support Threatens Essential Services

(New York) – Falling donor support for essential services in Afghanistan is reducing women’s access to essential health care, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. More cuts are likely in coming months following the announcement by…
A new mother holds her hour-old baby in the maternity ward at Dasht-e-Barchi hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, October 2020. She had travelled from neighboring Laghman province to give birth at the hospital. On May 12, 2020, unidentified gunmen attacked the hospital’s maternity ward, killing 24 people, including 16 mothers, 2 children, and a midwife. Three new mothers were killed in the delivery room. Another 20 people, including babies, were injured in the four-hour attack. Ongoing security concerns have lef
News

Interview: In Afghanistan, Buying the Scalpel for Your Own Child’s Birth

The US Withdrawal, Drops in Foreign Aid, and Health Care for Women and Girls

When the United States announced in April that it would withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan, it raised concerns the move would come with cuts in development assistance. Yet dwindling foreign investment has already left Afghanistan’s government with…
Midwives care for a mother who has just given birth in a hospital room
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. 
News

Afghanistan: UN Should Ensure Women’s Full Role in Talks

US Should Support a Genuinely Inclusive Process, Not Just ‘Parallel’ Events

(New York) – Women should have full participation in the talks between Afghan government officials, opposition political leaders, and the Taliban under United Nations auspices, Human Rights Watch said today. Human rights advocates in…
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attends a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan on June 14, 2017.
News

Afghanistan: Taliban Target Journalists, Women in Media

Attacks Highlight Need to Uphold Press Freedom in Peace Settlement

(New York) – Taliban forces are deliberately targeting journalists and other media workers, including women, in Afghanistan, Human Rights Watch said today. Threats and attacks against journalists across the country have increased sharply since…
Afghan journalists film at the site of a bombing attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. 
News

Afghanistan: Women’s Full Participation Needed in Talks

Near Exclusion at Moscow Summit Highlights Threat to Rights

(New York) – Afghanistan’s government and its international partners are failing in their obligation to ensure that Afghan women are full participants in all peace processes. In keeping with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women,…
Former President Hamid Karzai, left, and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, second right, attend an international peace conference in Moscow, Russia, March 18, 2021.
News

Afghanistan: Targeted Killings of Civilians Escalate

Investigate Recent Insurgent Attacks on Women, Religious Minorities

(New York) – Insurgent groups in Afghanistan have escalated their targeted killings of women and religious minorities, Human Rights Watch said today. Recent attacks have killed at least five women, mostly journalists and media workers, and seven…
Security personnel inspect the site of a bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday, March 15, 2021. 
News

South Asia’s Women’s Rights Activists Should Be Heard

International Women’s Day Should Prompt Real Reforms

As 2020 drew to a close, protesters across South Asia took to the streets, calling on their governments to take widespread sexual violence against women and children seriously, and to implement real reforms. But rather than listening to experts and…
202010asia_bangladesh_rape_student_protest
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Attacks Targeting Afghan Civilians Spread Terror

Governments Backing Talks Should Press for Civilian Protections

With Afghan peace talks making little progress, the latest report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) makes for grim reading. Although 2020 saw an overall decline in civilian casualties — the lowest numbers since 2013 — a…
Kabul street where gunmen fatally shot two women judges who worked for Afghanistan's high court, and wounded their driver, January 17, 2021.