Photo: Ian Copeland

HRW Urges Accountability As Taliban’s Repressive Policies Push Afghanistan Into Deeper Crisis

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban’s increasingly repressive policies have exacerbated Afghanistan’s human rights crisis, disproportionately impacting women and girls, and minority groups, according to Human Rights Watch’s latest World Report.

Afghanistan remains the only country globally where women and girls are barred from secondary and higher education. Restrictions on their movement, employment, and public participation have tightened further, the report covering 2024 states.

New Taliban edicts introduced in August mandate women to travel only with male guardians, cover their faces in public and refrain from singing or speaking loudly in public spaces. Violations of these rules have been met with harsh penalties, including detention, threats, and physical violence.

“Three years into Taliban rule, the suppression of rights and freedoms has only intensified,” said Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Governments should press the Taliban to end their abuses against women and girls while urgently supporting the creation of a comprehensive United Nations accountability mechanism.”

HRW indicated that efforts to hold the Taliban accountable have seen limited progress. In September, Germany, Canada, and other nations launched legal proceedings at the International Court of Justice, accusing the Taliban of violating international conventions on women’s rights. However, an October resolution by the UN Human Rights Council fell short of establishing a mechanism to collect evidence of abuses.

Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, described the Taliban’s actions as “an institutionalized system of discrimination, segregation, disrespect for human dignity, and exclusion of women and girls.”

The country’s worsening economic collapse has intensified the humanitarian crisis. More than 23 million Afghans require humanitarian aid, with nearly 3 million on the brink of famine. The UN’s humanitarian response remains underfunded, having received only 31% of the required budget by late 2024. The shortfall has forced aid organizations to shut down critical programs, leaving millions without access to food, healthcare, or basic services.

Human Rights Watch urged Afghanistan’s donors to prioritize aid that reaches the most vulnerable and to work toward long-term solutions to the economic crisis.

Media freedom has also been sharply curtailed under Taliban rule. Sweeping restrictions on the press include a ban on live political broadcasts and interviews with unauthorized individuals. Arbitrary arrests of journalists and critics have become commonplace. Many detainees are held without explanation, legal counsel, or access to family members, according to the report.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan documented 98 cases of arbitrary arrests and 20 instances of torture or ill-treatment of former government officials and security personnel in the first half of 2024. Public floggings remain a routine form of punishment, with at least 147 men, 28 women, and four boys subjected to corporal punishment this year. The Taliban have also been accused of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and the mistreatment of individuals deported from Pakistan.

Ethnic and religious minorities, such as Hazaras, continue to face targeted violence. The Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) has launched multiple attacks on Hazara communities and civilians. In January, a bus bombing in a Hazara neighborhood in Kabul killed five people. In September, ISKP claimed responsibility for killing 14 men in Daikundi province.

The refugee crisis remains acute. Over 665,000 Afghans were forcibly deported from Pakistan in late 2023. Many returned to a country ill-equipped to provide basic necessities such as housing, food, and education. Resettlement programs in countries such as the US, UK, and Canada have been slow to materialize, leaving thousands of at-risk Afghans in limbo across neighboring countries.