This submission highlights Human Rights Watch’s concerns about the human rights situation in Afghanistan. Afghanistan’s last Universal Periodic Review (UPR) was in January 2019 during the armed conflict between the former Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and United States and other allies, and the Taliban. Two and a half years later, US forces withdrew, the government collapsed, and the Taliban returned to power.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) this week released nine journalists who had been in custody following a spate of arrests targeting media workers employed by different outlets. While welcoming the move to release the nine journalists, media watchdogs have called for all journalists still in custody to be released immediately. The International Federation of
Nine journalists in Taliban custody across Afghanistan have been released following a campaign of arrests targeting foreign or exiled media outlets. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Afghan Independent Journalists Union (AIJU), condemn the Taliban’s crackdown on journalists and call for the immediate release of all media workers still in custody.