Afghanistan Human Rights Defenders Committee

Semi Annual Report

January - July 2023
AHRDC Semi-Annual Report Jan-July 2023

About AHRDC

Afghanistan Human Right Defenders Committee (AHRDC) is a volunteer membership

committee consists of non-partisan and non-biased human rights, media, individual HRDs and
civil activists. The committee functions under the legal registration of its members’ status.
The Committee has remained active since its establishment in 2015. Since Afghanistan
takeover in August 2021, the committee members are voluntarily working under an agreed
emergency strategy (October 2021) to support HRDs and achieve its mandate inside and
outside Afghanistan.

Vision
A society where citizens enjoy their rights and freedoms without fear, and where the role of
HRDs is recognized and supported as agents of positive change and those essential for
defending and advancing human rights.

Mission
To facilitate protection and promotion of HRDs work by enabling a safe and secure working
environment through networking among HRDs, civil society organization and like-minded
entities at the national, provincial and regional level.

Objectives
• To establish a collective action and responsible ownership for effective protection
mechanism to support and facilitate protection for HRDs.
• To promote and synergize the local capacities for collective and co-operative protection of
HRDs.
• To facilitate and support a secure working environment for HRDs in the country.

Mandate
The overall mandate of the AHRDC is to facilitate protection efforts for HRDs from all means
of attacks and threats, judicial abuses, arbitrary arrest, and detention. In addition, it is
mandated to strengthen the enabling environment for human rights defenders and redress a
relatively safe and secure working environment for the HRDs in Afghanistan.

Procedures
AHRDC operates under a set of Standard Operation Procedures and Case Management
Guideline enriched with national and international standards. The procedural documents
were developed in 2019 and edited in the emergency situation of 2021 and 2022.
AHRDC Semi-Annual Report Jan-July 2023

Document
Afghanistan Human Rights Defender Committee Update on HRDs Situation
Publisher
AHRDC’s Volunteer Secretariat at Afghan Canadian Civil Society Forum
Published
15 August 2023
AHRDC Semi-Annual Report Jan-July 2023

Table of Contents
Acronyms .................................................................................................................................................... 4
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 5
Executive summery .................................................................................................................................... 6
I. An Overview of Afghan HRDs............................................................................................................. 9
II. Threats and Attacks on HRDs ........................................................................................................... 11
III. Threats and Attacks Committed by Taliban ................................................................................. 12
IV. Summery of the HRDs applications ............................................................................................. 13
V. Challenges of human rights work in Afghanistan ........................................................................ 14
VI. HRDs access to protection services.............................................................................................. 16
VII. Recommendations........................................................................................................................ 17

Table of Figures

Figure 1: Risk and threats WHRDs are facing under Taliban control in Afghanistan. ................................ 11
Figure 2: Summery of threats and attacks committed by Taliban in the reporting period ...................... 12
Figure 3: Number of applications to AHRDC ............................................................................................. 13
Figure 4: Verified applications by Gender ................................................................................................. 14
AHRDC Semi-Annual Report Jan-July 2023

Acronyms

ACSF Afghan Canadian Society Forum

AHRDC Afghanistan Human Rights Defenders Committee

CSOs Civil Society Forum Organization

HRDs Human Rights Defenders

INGOs International Non-government Organizations

NGOs Non-government Organizations

UN United Nations

UNAMA United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan

UNHCR United Nations Refugee Agency

WHRDs Women Human Rights Defender

AHRDC Semi-Annual Report Jan-July 2023

Introduction

The HRDs in Afghanistan are experiencing a deeply suppressing situation. For women this
experience is even catastrophic. The citizens, in general, are deprived of exercising their fundamental
rights. Women and WHRDs are deprived of their basic human rights including socio-political and
economic right. The ban on rights of mobility and education for women and girls is fiercely continued by
the de facto authorities.

The WHRDs and HRDs are strongly standing and opposing the suppressive policies. Despite lack
of cohesive support by the international community, women in Afghanistan are decided to continue
their advocacy by opposing, protesting, and issuing statements. The HRDs and WHRDs in the transit
countries and in diaspora are trying to support their trapped fellows inside the country, as there is lack
of protections mechanism inside the country. The imprisoned and tortured HRDs and WHRDs are direly
in need of support, relocation, and evacuation.

The HRDs and WHRDs are expecting potential donors support to continue their great advocacy
work. The newly established human and women right organizations require individual and institutional
capacity building and financial resources. It is the right time for all the international human rights
institutions and supporters to strongly consider a joint protection mechanism against women and
human rights abuse in Afghanistan.

The members of AHRDC and its Secretariat staff are experiencing an increasing number in
applications for support, protection, relocation, and evacuation. In addition, there are tens and
hundreds of daily and weekly requests for advice from HRDs and WHRDs inside and outside the
country. The volunteer members of AHRDC and its Secretariat are trying to meet and respond to some
of the demands as per their capacity with almost zero external resources and support at the moment.

Aziz Rafiee

Director General, Afghan Canadian Civil Society Forum

Chairperson, AHRDC
AHRDC Semi-Annual Report Jan-July 2023

Executive Summery

The situation for HRDs is frustrating, deteriorating and dangerously challenging in Afghanistan.
Absence of rule of law, lack of a national protection mechanism and national legal framework,
low-capacity protection mechanism of HRDs, threats and attacks on HRDs based on their
working background, fear of detention at any time; are the most suppressing issues for the
HRDs inside the country. The suffocating and inquisition dominated environment with
additional accusations/allegations under a situation where the extra judiciary act of Taliban
has become a routine, is almost killing any space on human rights and liberty exercise for
citizens, women in particular.

A Glance to the Report • 19 percent of HRDs

specified risk to life and
I. HRDs’ risk and threats
physical threat
HRDs level of insecurity in Afghanistan is
potentially increasing day by day. The de- • 18 percent of HRDs named
facto authorities are fiercely controlling arbitrary arrest & torture
citizen social, economic, political, and • 15 percent of HRDs cited
cultural activities with radical interpretation defamation and house
of Islamic jurisprudence. This strongly searching
impacts HRDs and WHRDs activities • 13 percent violence against
negatively. The WHRDs face additional family member
challenges, problems and vulnerabilities as
result of Taliban gender apartheid. The
current struggle and continued resistance II. Threats and Attacks
of WHRDs for their basic rights and the Committed by Taliban
advocacy by the HRDs has socially and In the reporting period following threats
politicly pressurizing the Taliban. The de and attacks committed by Taliban:
facto authorities are further politicizing the • 32 WHRDs and 24 male HRDs
environment with several accusations. and their family intimidated,
HRDs activities can be counted anti-Islamic threatened and detained.
and pro-west that might result multiple • Four women led CSOs offices
risks, intimidation, arbitrary arrest and searched and employees
torture, and harassment. arrested.
Our survey among 610 HRDs in 2022-2023 • Eight members of the
indicated that HRDs are at risk of following Women’s National Unity and
threats by Taliban: Solidarity Movement detained
• Rasool Abdi, a prominent HRD
• 25 percent of HRDs quoted
and Herat University lecturer
risk of intimidation and
harassment was arrested.
• WHRD, Nargis Sadat and Girls
education activist, Matiullah
AHRDC Semi-Annual Report Jan-July 2023
Weesa was arrested, and his
house raided by Taliban.
• WHRD, Parisa Mubariz and
her brother were arrested and
tortured for several days.
• Journalist Murtaza Behboodi
was arrested and still has no
news of his fate.
III. Challenges for HRDs in
Afghanistan
- Limited civic space and practicing of
fundamental rights.
- Absence of rule of law and access to
justice.
- Taliban anti-human rights and HRDs
activists polices.
- Lack of freedom of expression
- Lack of access to information
- Ban on the rights for assumably and
freedom of movement.
IV. HRDs Access to Protection
Services
HRDs access to sustainable national
protection mechanism is extinct under
Taliban’s regime. The Taliban rolled
back the country’s protection
mechanisms and entities. In May
2022, the Taliban officially dissolved
the AIHRC. Other protection bodies
such as the Joint Commission for
HRDs’ Protection, Anti-Torture
Commission, and Access to
Information Commission were also
dissolved. Most human rights oriented
CSOs, especially those run by WHRDs,
were closed by the Taliban. Most of
the active groups operate
underground or from abroad. Many of
them narrowed their scope of work, or
shifted their focus to humanitarian aid
distribution, to remain active.
Individual rights and freedoms, privacy
rights, right to assembly and
expression have also been curtailed by
this rollback.
- The AHRDC-secretariat case
management record, in this reporting
period, indicates a “substantial”
applications number of 2,321 for
protection assistance.
- Only 753 of the applications were
validated for review of CRSs. The
CRCs ratified only 167 applications.
- The case management records reveal
that only 35% of total ratified
applicants (167) received support or
responses from national and
international human rights
organizations.
- Activities, resources, and protection
mechanisms of national human rights
oriented CSOs are limited and risky.
- Most of the national response CSOs
struggling with lack of or limited
financial resources.
- There is no financial and protection
support mechanism inside the
country.
 V. Recommendations

1. Safety and security of HRDs inside the country must be given priority. The HRDs left behind
are in dire need of support, protection, relocation, and evacuation.
2. An internally Protection Mechanism under the office of UN Special Rapporteur with
UNAMA human rights unit, UN-Women, INGOs and representatives of CSOs must be
established inside the country to ensure the HRDs and WHRDs are protected and the de-
factor authorities are responsible safety and security of activists.
3. Individual, institutional and program support to HRDs and human rights-oriented
organizations, both inside and outside the country, must be increased and enhanced.
4. Documentations against human rights violations, gender apartheid, war crimes, and
crimes against humanity must become a core part of the future support. This process
must supplement and complement the work of the UN Special Rapporteur.
5. A special funding mechanism must be dedicated for advocacy and documentation of
Gender Apartheid for women-led and other credible human rights organizations inside the
country.
6. A stronger support to refuge and migrant HRDs, particularly in the transit countries is a
dire need. Most of the HRDs and WHRDs in the transit countries are in a miserable life and
unexplainable security, psychological and financial hardship. The UNHCR, WFP and the
international human right organizations must develop a financially support mechanism for
survival of the HRDs and their family members in the transit countries.
7. UNHCR, the countries accepting immigrants and the international resettlement
organizations must speed up the process of resettlement for Afghan HRDs and WHRDs in
the transit countries. The registered and non-registered refugees in UNHCR, P1 and P2
applicants are in a distressing situation in the transit countries with fear of deportation
and imprisonment.
8. The donors must support the current well-established mechanism for coordination and
advocacy on human rights and HRDs. This support must include resources to engage with the
huge potential of HRDs in diaspora.
9. The international political actors must strongly push the de-facto authorities in Afghanistan to
respect human rights and fundamental freedoms for all citizens of the country, women in
particular.
10. The international actors must urge the Taliban to unconditionally release the imprisoned HRDs,
WHRDs and the journalist who are currently in the Estekhbaraat and Pul-e Charkhi prisons.
AHRDC Semi-Annual Report Jan-July 2023

I. An Overview of Afghan HRDs

The situation for HRDs is frustrating, deteriorating and dangerously challenging in

Afghanistan.1 Lack of national protection mechanism and national legal framework, low-
capacity protection mechanism of human rights oriented for HRD/s, threats and attacks
connected to their working background, fear of detention at any time, and increasing
accusations are the most suppressing issues for the HRDs inside the country.2

Majority HRDs with are living in a highly risky situation with a constant fear of detention
and execution by the Taliban and its irresponsible militants.3 Arbitrary arrests, long-
detentions, and torture (including inhuman punishment) have been the three increasingly
dangerous challenges that they are facing. Forced confession, commitment letter of not
remaining active after release, keeping silent on detention and torture are now an integral part
of the activists’ files in Taliban regime at the Estekhbaraat departments.

The Taliban Estekhbaraat control on social media and censorship are further endangering
the male HRDs and WHRDs. In some cases, for trapping HRDs and activists the Estekhbaraat is
arresting family members and pressurizing the communities. In addition, there are recent
exercise of arresting and releasing activists to divert and mislead the attentions from those
who continue to remain under arrest in the Estekhbaraat, police and private prisons.4 The
social media activists are threatened, arrested, and even assassinated for their activities.
Cases and evidence of such are constantly being reported by social and international media.
Women remains the overall victims of the situations due to Talibani women prosecution and
gender apartheid policies.5

The suffocating and inquisition dominated environment with additional accusations and
allegations by Taliban has completely shrunk the space for HRDs. Moreover, the Taliban
continued extra judiciary acts of brutal public beatings and assassinations have become a
routine. The fear produced in such a situation, is almost killing any space on human rights and
liberty exercise for citizens where women are the main victims.

Afghan HRDs in Transit Countries

The living threats, fear of detention and danger of re-arrest for those who were already
arrested caused the majority of HRD/s to take the non-optional decision of leaving the
country.5 Some of the donors who stopped evacuation of their project staff from inside the
country, preconditioned UNHCR registration to their constituency’s cases processing. The
announcement of the USA Government on P1 and P2 case referral from specific third countries

1
https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ahrc5321-situation-women-and-girls-afghanistan-report-special-rapporteur
2 https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/unama-human-rights-update-february-april-2023-endarips
3 https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/unama-human-rights-situation-afghanistan-may-june-2023-update-endarips
4 https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/08/1139962

5
https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2023/07/experts-taliban-treatment-women-may-be-gender-apartheid
AHRDC Semi-Annual Report Jan-July 2023

pursued candidates rush for evacuation to the transit countries. The mentioned reasons
altogether created a hugely inflated presence of Afghan refugees and migrants in Pakistan,
Iran, Turkey, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The inhuman behavior of some of these countries
towards HRDs has caused a chronic depression and living danger of arrest and deportation.

The media reports on several suicides, at least five cases in the last six months in Pakistan,
shows the level of threats and danger towards the HRDs in these countries. Evidence of
torture in the prisons of Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, and deportations from these countries are
being reported in the social and official media outlets. Regular deportation flights from Turkey,
massive deportation from Iran and Pakistan via designated borders are officially reported.

In Pakistan, the police harassment, regular checking and searching activists’ houses,
difficulty in renting house, bribery and official as well as under the table payment for visa
extension, and exit permits is known to everyone as the city’s fame.

The case processing by UNHCR and other resettlement national and international
organization is not responding the needs of the Afghan migrants and refugees. HRDs and
activists have difficulty getting access to the UNHRC and their partners in the host countries.
Some of these countries do not even have the UNHCR offices. The local partners of UNHCR in
the host countries either remain very reluctant or even inaccessible to HRDs. On the other
hand, while most of the already registered HRDs and activist have not been evacuated, the
allocation of visa by the migrant receiving countries is drastically decreasing for Afghans and
Afghanistan. The international human rights organizations are hugely under pressure with the
limited available opportunity that cannot even help a small number of Afghan HRDs and
activists in host countries.

Thriving to Surviving: HRDs in Destination Countries

The majority of the HRDs in the destination countries continue to remain under critical
cultural and social shocks. Struggling for integration and economic survival, joblessness and
psychological distress are becoming major challenges for almost a vast majority of formerly
active HRDs, in the diaspora.

Losing social status in diaspora, unemployment, lengthy validation process of documents,

host countries work experience, concerns of remaining family members back at home, high
living cost of large family members have put them in a long-term depressing situation. A quite
visible number of professional HRDs have had no other choice except joining the labor force
market for survival. Unfortunately, the lack of local market experience has been an additional
suppressing factor for most of them. This huge potential, at this time, is wasted while their
potential could be utilized in support of the HRDs and addressing the current human rights
chaos back at home.
AHRDC Semi-Annual Report Jan-July 2023

II. Threats and Attacks on HRDs

HRDs levels of insecurity in Afghanistan are higher. This heightened insecurity is on account of
several factors including the following:

• HRDs civil activity and Afghan women's resistance against Taliban and under their
rule has become more political than ever before in Afghanistan. Therefore, any
HRDs activity can be accounted anti-Islam and Taliban policies and it might result
multiple risks, intimidation and harassment, life and physical threats, arbitrary
arrest and torture.
• Taliban control on citizen social, economic, political and cultural activities with
radical interpretation of Islamic jurisprudence impact HRDs in Afghanistan
negatively but WHRDs face additional challenges, problems and vulnerabilities as a
result of their gender.
• Outside the above, it is common cause that women are general disproportionately
affected by human rights infractions, including socio-economic rights by virtue of
their reproductive roles and gender dynamics in Afghanistan conservative and
patriarchal society.

Our survey among 610 HRDs in 2022-2023 indicated that HRDs are at risk of following threats by
Taliban:

• 25 percent of HRDs quoted risk of intimidation and harassment

• 19 percent of HRDs specified risk to life and physical threat
• 18 percent of HRDs named arbitrary arrest & torture
• 15 percent of HRDs cited defamation and house searching
• 13 percent violence against family member

Figure 1: Risk and threats WHRDs are facing under Taliban control in Afghanistan.

4%

8% Intimidation and harassment

25% Life and physical threats
13%
Arbitrary arrest and torture
Defamation and house searching
15% 19% Violence against family

18% Physical and psychological harm

Kidnapping and Imprisonment
AHRDC Semi-Annual Report Jan-July 2023

III. Threats and Attacks Committed by Taliban

In the reporting period AHRDC-secretariat received reports by HRDs, family and other
supporting organization that following threats and attacks committed by Taliban against HRD/s in
Afghanistan:
• 32 WHRDs and 24 male HRDs and their family intimidated, threatened, and detained
due to their civil society activity in Kabul, Balkh, Herat, Takhar, and Badakhshan,
Nangrahar and Bamyan.
• 52 women led CSOs closed due Taliban restriction on women works in NGOs in three
regions Afghanistan, north, central and west of Afghanistan.
• Four women led CSOs offices searched and employees arrested in the reporting
period.
• Eight members of the Women’s National Unity and Solidarity Movement detained on
August 19 for several hours on a charge of organizing a protest in Kabul.
• Taliban arrested a prominent HRD who was also a lecturer at the Herat university Mr.
Rasool Abdi and Murtaza Behbood a journalist in January 2023.
• Taliban arrested WHRD, Nargis Sadat and Girls education activist, Matiullah Weesa
arrested, and his house raided by Taliban in February and March 2023.
• Parisa Mubariz, an activist in the northeastern province of Takhar, and her brother
arrested and tortured for several days.

Figure 2: Summery of threats and attacks committed by Taliban in the reporting period

Intimidation and arrests of the 7

family member 1

8
House searching and arrest
1
WHRDs
10 Male HRDs
Detention and torture
3

15
Intimidation and arrestment
21

0 5 10 15 20 25
AHRDC Semi-Annual Report Jan-July 2023

IV. Summery of the HRDs Applications

In this reporting period (January to July 2023) there have been a total of 2,321 applications
received by AHRDC Secretariat. Out of these applications, only 753 of them were validated for
review. The Case Review Committees (CRCs), after thorough vetting as per case review guidelines
of AHRDC, have only been able to verify ratified 167 of these cases and the Secretariat was asked
to issue letters of confirmation and support to the deserving HRDs. In this 167 there are 56
WHRDs and 111 HRDs.

Number of Applications to AHRDC

167

Received application
753

Valid applications

Vetted and veryfied

2321 applications

Figure 3: Number of Applications to AHRDC

In addition, the AHRDC Secretariat is also providing support to our international partners on
their demand for vetting and ratification of applying HRDs to their institutions. In this regard, the
AHRDC Secretariat has been able to provide additional information on HRD cases to Frontline
Defenders, Amnesty international, Urgent Action Fund, FIDH, MADRE, FIDH, Protect Defenders
and other institutions.
AHRDC Semi-Annual Report Jan-July 2023

Verified Applications by Gender

56, 34%

111, 66%

Male Female

Figure 4: Verified Applications by Gender

While we admit that there are an increasing number of applications that is beyond the
capacity of both AHRDC and its Secretariat voluntarily work, the international community must
also establish other means and tools of verification and corporation to the HRDs whom are
victims of current atrocities inside and in the transit countries. Our current limited resource
cannot respond to the increasing need and continued Taliban suppression of HRDs.

V. Challenges of Human Rights Work in Afghanistan

• Civic Space
The overall shrinking civic space and the Taliban measures to suppress the HRDs and
confine the working environment for CSOs are quite visible on the ground. Lack of a legal
framework for civil society and media is prevailing the circumstances and giving free hand to
the defector authorities to further interfere in individual’s privacy and in collective working
environment.6 In addition to the absence of citizens’ civil-political rights, the citizens are
deprived of practicing their social, cultural, and economic rights at large.7 The recent order on
confining women from picnic is an additional catastrophe to the already existing gender
apartheid, closure of all educational institutions, and ban on women mobility.8 The extra
judiciary acts of assassination, detentions, torture, high fines, extra taxations, bribery, and
forcing to employ their relatives/agents in CSOs are continued as deteriorating factors. Lack

6 https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2023-07/AfghanHRDSReportJan2023edit.pdf
7 https://press.un.org/en/2023/sc15330.doc.htm
8 https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/in-focus/2023/08/in-focus-after-august-voices-of-afghan-women-two-years-after-the-taliban-

takeover
AHRDC Semi-Annual Report Jan-July 2023

of rule of law, freedom of expression, access to information, freedom of assembly, freedom of

media and human rights are drastically contributing to the confinements of the civic space.9

• Rule of Law & Access to Justice

There is no single hierarchy of judicial procedures in the Taliban judicial system.10 The
Attorney General Office is now under the Ministry of Justice and the Afghanistan Independent
Bar Associations has become a government entity. The Taliban's formal proceedings of the
courts (judicial principles) are coming from Al-Ahkam magazine that is being used as the
penal sections. The court proceedings on criminal issues refer to the books of Hanafi
jurisprudence, but there is no single procedure for that, and it is different in every court and
for every judge. The Taliban judicial procedures do not follow a fixed and proper hierarchy of
courts that includes the Supreme, Appellate and Primary courts.11 Any military group in any
check point (or a police station) can be the police, the prosecutor, and the judge. The
educational background of Taliban judges is also very limited and their (courts) decisions are
based on their own interpretations and as per the relations that the accused and detainee
can built with them. The professional cadre of judiciary system due to fear of detention and
torture of Taliban have either hidden in the cities or have already left the country. Female
defense lawyers have been ordered to stay home and their salaries have been stopped.12 In
the Taliban courts women remains the core victims.13 In addition, discrimination
predominantly applies based on language and ethnicity, gender, social status, and the
person’s working background. An additional discrimination against followers of Jafari
jurisprudence, Hindus and Sikhs are brutally applies.

• Freedom of Expression and Access to Information

A glance at the reflections of media reports on freedom of expression, detentions, and
level of threats against activists, can explain the overall deteriorating situation inside the
country. The continued arbitrary detentions, torture including inhumane and cruel
punishments, lack of access to family members, defense lawyers, fair trial, and coerced
confessions are drastically suppressing and restricting the HRDs in their activities.14 Rasool
Abdi, Matiullah Weesa and Murtaza Behboodi remain imprisoned and having no access to
their families are just an example of tens of them who are under similar situation.15 The
Kabul, Herat, Nangarhar and Balkh university lecturers are threatened and forced to resign
and keep silent at home. They have also been told that they cannot work at any other
government departments or NGOs once they are dismissed from the government.
International organizations regularly reports on waves of assassinations of former
government official that have a direct affect and all citizen’s psychology and social
safety/security. Increasing number of suicides reflects the overall situation of the HRDs, CSAs
and MWs both inside and outside the country.

9
https://www.civicus.org/index.php/media-resources/news/6513-assault-on-civic-space-persists-two-years-after-the-taliban-takeover
10 http://srmo.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/SRMO%20Civic%20Space%20Quarterly%20Oct-Dec%202022.pdf
11 https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/01/1132662
12 https://rawadari.org/040620231635.htm/
13 https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/07/afghanistan-talibans-suffocating-crackdown-destroying-lives-of-women-and-girls-new-

report/
14 https://ilacnet.org/new-ilac-report-surveys-justice-sector-under-taliban-rule-2/
15 https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/global-solidarity-needed-address-talibans-attacks-womens-rights
AHRDC Semi-Annual Report Jan-July 2023

• Extra Judiciary Acts and Citizen Humiliation by Taliban

The Taliban continue to publicly insult, humiliate, arrest, torture and assassinate the
activists, public servants, and former government law enforcement department staff
members.16 There has been an increase since early this year in reported cases. International
organizations, UN and local organizations have explicitly reported on cases.17 The military and
civil members of former ANSF staff assassination records the highest number in the reporting
period while there have also been reports of prosecutors and other government official
cases.18
The vise and virtue departments in the provinces continue to beat and torture publicly
people for the allegations as per the Sharia laws. These decisions are solely made by
members of the vice and virtue department in Kabul and provinces. There are many reports
of such, in particular on women, in the social media and openly published by the de-facto
authorities.19

VI. HRDs Access to Protection Services

HRDs access to sustainable national protection mechanism is extinct under Taliban’s

regime. The Taliban rolled back the country’s protection mechanisms and entities. In May
2022, the Taliban officially dissolved the AIHRC. Other protection bodies such as the Joint
Commission for HRDs’ Protection, Anti-Torture Commission, and Access to Information
Commission were also dissolved. Most human rights–oriented CSOs, especially those run by
WHRDs, were closed by the Taliban. Some groups now operate undercover or from abroad.
Many of them narrowed their scope of work, or shifted their focus to humanitarian aid
distribution, to remain active. Individual rights and freedoms—like assembly and expression,
which are legally and institutionally unprotected—have also been curtailed by this rollback.

- The AHRDC-secretariat case management record, in this reporting period, indicates a

“substantial” applications number of 2,321 for protection assistance.20
- Only 753 of the applications were validated for review of CRSs. The CRCs ratified only 167
applications.
- The case management records reveal that only 35% of total ratified applicants (167)
received support or responses from national and international human rights organizations.
- Activities, resources, and protection mechanisms of national human rights oriented CSOs
are limited and risky.
- Most of the national response CSOs struggling with lack of or limited financial resources.
- There is no financial and protection support mechanism inside the country.

16 https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/south-asia/afghanistan/report-afghanistan/
17
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/22/over-200-former-afghan-troops-officials-killed-since-taliban-takeover-un
18 https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/06/taliban-edicts-suffocating-women-and-girls-afghanistan-un-experts
19 https://www.usip.org/publications/2022/10/taliban-escalate-new-abuses-against-afghan-women-girls

20
The have been more than 2,321 applications received by the Secretariat out of that only 753 were eligible to be reviewed. A detailed report
will be released by end of November 2023.
AHRDC Semi-Annual Report Jan-July 2023

VII. Recommendations

1. Safety and security of HRDs inside the country must be given priority. The HRDs left behind
are in dire need of support, protection, relocation, and evacuation.
2. An internally Protection Mechanism under the office of UN Special Rapporteur with
UNAMA human rights unit, UN-Women, INGOs and representatives of CSOs must be
established inside the country to ensure the HRDs and WHRDs are protected, and the de-
factor authorities are responsible safety and security of activists.
3. Individual, institutional and program support to HRDs and human rights-oriented
organizations, both inside and outside the country, must be increased and enhanced.
4. Documentations against human rights violations, gender apartheid, war crimes, and
crimes against humanity must become a core part of the future support. This process
must supplement and complement the work of the UN Special Rapporteur.
5. A special funding mechanism must be dedicated for advocacy and documentation of
Gender Apartheid for women-led and other credible human rights organizations inside the
country.
6. A stronger support to refuge and migrant HRDs, particularly in the transit countries is a
dire need. Most of the HRDs and WHRDs in the transit countries are in a miserable life and
unexplainable security, psychological and financial hardship. The UNHCR, WFP and the
international human right organizations must develop a financially support mechanism for
survival of the HRDs and their family members in the transit countries.
7. UNHCR, the countries accepting immigrants and the international resettlement
organizations must speed up the process of resettlement for Afghan HRDs and WHRDs in
the transit countries. The registered and non-registered refugees in UNHCR, P1 and P2
applicants are in a distressing situation in the transit countries with fear of deportation
and imprisonment.
8. The donors must support the current well-established mechanism for coordination and
advocacy on human rights and HRDs. This support must include resources to engage with the
huge potential of HRDs in diaspora.
9. The international political actors must strongly push the de-facto authorities in Afghanistan to
respect human rights and fundamental freedoms for all citizens of the country, women in
particular.
10. The international actors must urge the Taliban to unconditionally release the imprisoned HRDs,
WHRDs and the journalist who are currently in the Estekhbaraat and Pul-e Charkhi prisons.