“There should be no returns to an unsafe Afghanistan and no deportations built on deals with the Taliban. If EU countries engage at all, their focus should be human rights, not migration control." Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan Researcher, Human Rights Watch.
“There should be no returns to an unsafe Afghanistan and no deportations built on deals with the Taliban. If EU countries engage at all, their focus should be human rights, not migration control." Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan Researcher, Human Rights Watch.
This latest arrest should be backed by continuing efforts to identify and hold accountable all those responsible for war crimes in Afghanistan and elsewhere, and to ensure victims receive their rightful compensation.
bsky.app/profile/hrw....
A step towards accountability and justice for victims in Afghanistan.
"Concerned countries should press Pakistan to provide genuine accountability and ensure that failures in intelligence, target verification, and decision-making are identified and fixed so such strikes never happen again.”
– A Pakistani airstrike on a drug treatment center in Afghanistan on March 16, 2026, was an unlawful attack and a possible war crime, Human Rights Watch said today.
www.hrw.org/asia/pakistan
Five years after the ban barring millions of girls from secondary education, a new school year begins in #Afghanistan. Sharif Akram explores how radio has become an unexpected classroom, reshaping attitudes but raising questions about quality and sustainability.
bit.ly/41lG3IZ #GirlsEducation
#Israel's mass displacement in #Lebanon follows the same strategy used in Gaza, the West Bank and Syria. Forced displacement of civilians, widespread destruction and prevention of return.
In short, potential war crimes.
My opinion for @AJEnglish:
aje.news/gn8v60
"Living under the Chinese government’s repression forced me to develop survival skills early on. I learned to live two parallel lives: one of performative obedience, and one of quiet resistance."
- @yalkun.bsky.social / @hrw.org in a very personal reflection on the litany of abuses by Xi's regime ⤵️
At the BBC this morning to speak about Afghanistan.
The new mechanism that the Human Rights Council created last October for Afg will be a key tool in holding perpetrators of grave abuses to account. Member states and the UN leadership should urgently operationalize it and ensure it has the necessary resources to fulfill its mandate.
Wrapping up a short trip to Norway on #IWD. While I traveling from Paris to Oslo for conferences, brave Afghan women returned to the streets of Kabul to demand their rights. Their courage is a reminder that those of us with a voice must use it to ensure theirs are heard. #InternationalWomensDay
On this #IWD, I attended a conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France to speak about Afghanistan. It's important for all of us to stand for the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan and to do all that we can to protect their rights.
"We urge UN member states to listen to the women and girls of Afghanistan, center their voices, and do more to protect their rights and advance accountability for gender persecution."
- @fereshtaabbasi.bsky.social / @hrw.org
#Afghanistan : Les talibans ont adopté un nouveau code de procédure pénale qui ne reconnaît que les coups "excessifs" comme violence domestique envers les femmes laissant les victimes d'autres formes d'abus sans protection ni recours.
@fereshtaabbasi.bsky.social au Conseil des droits de l’homme ⤵️
On this #IWD2026 listen to the episode of the Swissinfo podcast on why we should support women of Afghanistan and do all we can to protect their rights.
I have had the pleasure of speaking with Imogen Foulkes in the past too but this one is really close to my heart.
www.swissinfo.ch/eng/internat...
We urge UN member states to listen to the women and girls of Afghanistan, center their voices, and do more to protect their rights and advance accountability for gender persecution.
bsky.app/profile/hrw....
The Taliban have recently passed a new criminal procedure code that further deepens repression and discrimination in Afghanistan.
HRW's Fereshta Abbasi shares more and calls for accountability at the 61st Session of the UN Human Rights Council ⤵️
#HRC61
Afghanistan: Accountability Needed for Gender Persecution, Other Grave Crimes
www.hrw.org/news/2026/02...
You can watch the UN Human Rights Council session on Afghanistan happening now:
Member states and the UN leadership should urgently operationalize Afghanistan's accountability mechanism and ensure it has the necessary resources to fulfill its mandate.
webtv.un.org/en
At #HRC61, had the pleasure to meet with the foreign ministers of Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein to discuss Afghanistan.
States should listen to the women of Afghanistan and do more to protect their rights.
I will be moderating this important side event on the People's Tribunal for Women of Afghanistan this week. Please join us if you are in Geneva:
When: 26 February, 14:00-15:00 CET
Where: Palais de Nations, Geneva
“Governments need to press the Taliban to end their horrific abuses while also alleviating Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis and extending protections to Afghan refugees,” said Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch.
www.hrw.org/news/2026/02...
HRW quote card that says, “The UK government’s decision to end the cruel "two-child limit” social security policy is welcome and long-overdue. It forced growing numbers of children and families into poverty and undermined their rights.” Kartik Raj, Europe Senior Researcher
Good riddance to rubbish policy.
The end to the UK's "two child limit" social security policy has been announced, and it will soon be gone.
We @hrw.org welcome the news, as one of many, many, many voices calling for an end to this arbitrary, cruel social security policy.
‘Extreem zorgwekkend,’ noemt Human Rights Watch-onderzoeker @fereshtaabbasi.bsky.social de ontwikkeling.
Die ziet ze als het ‘normaliseren van deportaties naar Afghanistan’. “Landen die lang in Afghanistan actief zijn geweest, proberen hun verantwoordelijkheden te negeren.”
"Without female staff, we cannot collectively serve returning women and children under conditions of dignity and respect.” Says a UN official in Afghanistan.
www.newarab.com/news/un-susp...
The Taliban have gutted Afghan media since taking control of the country in August 2021.
HRW's @fereshtaabbasi.bsky.social details the harsh conditions and growing challenges journalists are facing in Afghanistan ⤵️
The Taliban have gutted Afghan media since taking control of the country in August 2021 through the use of surveillance and censorship and by punishing media workers for perceived criticism.
bsky.app/profile/hrw....
