Rabat – On Oct. 6, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) adopted a resolution creating an independent accountability body to investigate human rights violations in Afghanistan.
The “mechanism,” as it is called by the resolution, will collect and preserve evidence of crimes against humanity and grave rights abuses for future prosecution.
The accountability body is expected to specifically investigate the Taliban and leadership and policies that deny women rights to education, healthcare, and free movement in Afghanistan.
The Taliban announced a law to ‘promote virtue’ in late 2024, forcing women to cover their face and prohibiting their voices from being heard outside of the home – including singing. Furthermore, the Taliban has detained women for not abiding by these rules.
In addition to an attack on women’s rights, food insecurity plagues Afghanistan. In August of 2025, it was reported that over a quarter of Afghanistan’s population face acute food insecurity.
The earthquake in early September killed over 1,000 people and worsened the food crisis, with 10 million people facing immediate danger to their lives and livelihoods.
Additionally, Afghanistan faces a healthcare crisis, which further exacerbates women’s health crises. In 2022 more than 40% of Afghan mothers gave birth at home without the help of a health professional. Paradoxically, women have been banned from studying nursing and midwifery, and male doctors are prohibited from treating women patients.
As well as human rights abuse, the Taliban has attacked media, including a recent shut off of the internet for 48 hours. The Taliban has also been accused of arbitrarily arresting media workers, declining to provide information on the cause for their arrests or if they would face trial.
Since the fall of Kabul in 2021, the Taliban has controlled Afghanistan. Women’s rights have been significantly impacted, with waves of legislation restricting their rights as part of a broader religious fundamentalist movement by the Taliban.
