The Taliban's system of repression does not stop at Afghanistan’s borders. They attempt to control & silence Afghan women abroad through demands that media outlets enforce their abusive rules on those who speak out and challenge Taliban abuses. @fereshtaabbasi.bsky.social www.hrw.org/news/2026/04...

"Je ne me plierai pas aux règles des talibans" Bien qu'elle soit l’auteure d'un récent rapport de Human Rights Watch, un journaliste afghan souhaitait qu’un collègue masculin s’exprime à la place de notre chercheuse @fereshtaabbasi.bsky.social. Sa réponse ⤵️

In Afghanistan today, three in four people cannot meet their basic needs, according to the United Nations. Unemployment is rife, healthcare struggling and the aid that once provided the basics for millions has dwindled to a fraction of what it once was. www.bbc.com/news/article...

"Little if any meaningful freedom of expression survives inside Afghanistan, particularly for women. Afghan women are barred from education beyond sixth grade and face severe restrictions in employment and erasure from public life." www.hrw.org/news/2026/04...

For the past five years, I’ve documented Taliban abuses, and now the effort to silence critics has spread beyond Afghanistan. Local media can no longer show my interviews because I won’t comply with the Taliban’s repressive rules. Read more from me here: www.hrw.org/news/2026/04...

🚨Nearly five years after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, little if any meaningful freedom of expression survives inside the country, particularly for women and girls. Must-read by @hrw.org’s @fereshtaabbasi.bsky.social ⤵️

While corresponding with a local journalist in Afghanistan around a recent report I had authored, I received a shocking request: “Can we please have a video clip on your new report—not from you, but from a man from Human Rights Watch?” www.hrw.org/news/2026/04...

“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#Afghanistanau 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...

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....

To the Turkish Government: Ensure that Afghan journalists and other at-risk Afghans can apply for international protection or humanitarian residency permits. Ensure that exiled Afghan journalists in Türkiye can apply for and obtain work permits. www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

📢The Taliban have gutted Afghanistan’s media since taking control of the country in August 2021. They have subjected the remaining news outlets to surveillance and censorship, and punished journalists and other media workers for any perceived criticism. New from @hrw.org ⤵️

#Afghanistan 🇦🇫 @hrw.org highlighted the impact of the two-day internet shutdown imposed by the Taliban. “It harmed the livelihoods of millions & deprived them of their basic rights to education, health care & access to information.” @fereshtaabbasi.bsky.social

Afghanistan: Taliban Tramples Media Freedom www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...

Fereshta Abbasi called the announcement a “huge win” for Afghans. “It sends a strong message to the victims that their suffering is not erasable, that their pains are not forgettable, that the grave abuses and the culture of impunity has been broken." www.thepersistent.com/afghanistan-...

“The Taliban’s moves to cut internet access harms the livelihoods of millions of Afghans and deprives them of their basic rights to education, health care, and access to information. The Taliban should drop its baseless rationales and end these shutdowns.” - @fereshtaabbasi.bsky.social / @hrw.org

“It’s crucial for the new mechanism to get up and running quickly so that it can begin to collect, prepare, and preserve evidence, and build files on those responsible for international crimes in Afghanistan.” - @fereshtaabbasi.bsky.social, Afghanistan researcher @hrw.org

"Cela envoie un message fort aux victimes, aux femmes afghanes, (...) aux défenseurs des droits humains, en leur garantissant que les auteurs des graves abus commis en #Afghanistan seront un jour tenus responsables et traduits en justice" - @fereshtaabbasi.bsky.social

„Die Mitglieder des UN-Menschenrechtsrats haben den Betroffenen, ihren Familien und all jenen, die mutig für Gerechtigkeit in Afghanistan kämpfen, die klare Botschaft gesendet, dass ihre Stimmen gehört wurden und dass ihr Leid weder unsichtbar noch auslöschbar ist“ @fereshtaabbasi.bsky.social

Taliban and all perpetrators should have received the message - that they cannot commit grave abuses with impunity – they cannot silence or erase women and girls without consequence and that they will be held accountable for their abuses in Afghanistan. bsky.app/profile/hrw....

L'ONU a adopté une résolution historique prévoyant la création d'un mécanisme indépendant chargé d'enquêter sur les violations des droits humains passées et actuelles en #Afghanistan. 🎉 C'est une avancée significative pour briser le cycle de l'impunité dans le pays. www.hrw.org/fr/news/2025...

"Les femmes afghanes continuent de résister aux attaques contre leurs droits et nous devons nous tenir à leurs côtés en solidarité" @fereshtaabbasi.bsky.social au Conseil des droits de l'homme de l'ONU pour demander la mise en place d'un mécanimse de reddition des comptes pour l'Aghanistan ⤵

For the past four years, the Taliban have intensified attacks on women and girls' rights in Afghanistan, amounting to what UN experts have labeled “gender apartheid.” The UN Human Rights Council should urgently establish an accountability mechanism to address impunity and advance justice.

More than 2,000 people have been killed following a deadly earthquake in Afghanistan. The Taliban have imposed rules that make it difficult for female aid workers to help with rescue efforts. Taliban authorities should ensure that women are involved in all relief work. bsky.app/profile/hrw....