Human Rights Report Says Situation in Afghanistan Has Deteriorated on All Fronts
A new report by the Afghanistan Human Rights Center says rights and freedoms have been systematically violated across the country, with women, journalists, activists and former security personnel among the most affected. The report describes a widening climate of fear, repression and shrinking civil liberties.
The report says women and girls faced the harshest forms of discrimination in last year, while the Taliban’s morality law further increased pressure on women’s daily lives. It warns that if the ban on girls’ education above sixth grade continues until 2030, around 4 million girls could be denied secondary education and lose access to higher learning entirely.
It also documents arbitrary arrests, torture and abuse in Taliban detention centers, especially against women’s rights activists, journalists, former security forces and civil society figures. The report says some detainees were tortured in intelligence detention sites, including the feared Directorate 40, and that some cases involved sexual abuse, particularly against women activists. Broader reporting by rights groups and press freedom monitors has also documented arbitrary detention and mistreatment of journalists under Taliban rule.
The report further criticizes the Taliban’s justice system, saying courts lack independence and are run under a rigid interpretation of Islamic law, while women have been fully removed from judicial institutions. It says the morality law gives Taliban enforcers sweeping powers to detain, threaten and punish people without due process, while public floggings and executions have increased. UN and rights reporting has also warned that the Taliban’s legal changes weaken fair trial protections and expand corporal punishment.
The report says the broader humanitarian situation has also worsened sharply, with children facing hunger, abuse, forced marriage, lack of schooling and recruitment risks, while millions of Afghans continue to suffer from food insecurity, malnutrition and economic decline. International agencies say Afghanistan remains one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with millions in urgent need of food and nutrition support.
Since 2021, the Taliban have imposed sweeping restrictions on women’s education, work, movement, media freedom and public life, drawing repeated condemnation from the United Nations and international rights groups. Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where girls are barred from secondary and higher education.
Human rights organizations say these restrictions are no longer isolated abuses but part of a structured system of repression, especially against women and dissenting voices. Analysts warn that continued impunity, institutionalized discrimination and weakening rule of law could deepen Afghanistan’s political, social and economic isolation.
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