HRW Reports Six Afghan Rights Workers Detained; U.N. Holds Two

Human Rights Watch reported that six employees of an Afghan women’s and children’s rights organization were detained in Kabul on July 18, while the United Nations separately confirmed that two Afghan employees of its political mission were detained in Herat on August 9.

The cases are not being treated as one operation. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, told The Associated Press that it had no information confirming the reported detention of the six rights workers and had not established a connection between the two incidents.

Together, the reports highlight the pressure facing human-rights defenders, civil-society groups and international monitors as Afghanistan marks five years since the Taliban returned to power on August 15, 2021.

What is known about the six reported detentions

Human Rights Watch said the six men worked for the Women and Children Legal Research Foundation. According to the group, they were summoned to the organization’s Kabul office on July 18 to retrieve laptops and phones that had been confiscated. Human Rights Watch said the men were then detained.

Human Rights Watch described the case as a possible enforced disappearance because the workers’ families reportedly received no information about their whereabouts, condition or possible charges. That characterization is attributed to Human Rights Watch and has not been independently verified in the available reporting.

Human Rights Watch called on Taliban authorities to allow family members and lawyers to visit the men and to release them unless they had been charged with a recognizable offense. The group also said the reported detentions followed a search and sealing of the organization’s Kabul office and questioning of staff about their work.

What the U.N. confirmed

The United Nations said the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence detained two Afghan employees of its political mission in the western city of Herat on August 9. The U.N. mission said it had not been informed of charges against the two men and had not been allowed to visit them.

The United Nations called on Taliban authorities to comply with the privileges and immunities of the United Nations and its officials. The Taliban had not immediately commented on either incident in the reporting used for this article.

The U.N. confirmation is separate from the Human Rights Watch account. UNAMA said it had no information about the six reported detentions and could not say whether the cases were connected.

Why the cases matter

U.N. human-rights reporting on Afghanistan has documented concerns including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and pressure against human-rights defenders, journalists, women activists and civil-society organizations. Restrictions on civic space can make it harder to document and report abuses.

U.N. reporting has also described humanitarian-access barriers linked to insecurity, administrative restrictions and limits affecting women humanitarian workers. Those conditions can complicate the work of aid agencies and rights monitors, although the available sources do not show that assistance has been suspended because of these two cases.

For families and international organizations, the immediate questions are whether the detainees will be given access to relatives or lawyers, whether their locations and conditions will be confirmed, and whether any charges will be disclosed. Further statements from the Taliban, UNAMA or rights monitors could clarify the status of the reported Kabul detention and whether the two incidents have any connection.

Sources

• Associated Press: HRW report on six Afghan rights workers
• U.N. Human Rights Council: Afghanistan human-rights report
• United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan