ISLAMABAD: The Taliban in Afghanistan increased repression of women and girls in 2025 and imposed new restrictions limiting media freedom, Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2026 released on Tuesday.
“Governments need to press the Taliban to end their horrific abuses,” said Fereshta Abbasi, an Afghanistan researcher at HRW.
“The Taliban’s unrelenting repression should push governments to support efforts to hold all those responsible for serious crimes in Afghanistan to account.”
In its 36th edition, the 529-page World Report 2026 reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries.
Executive Director Philippe Bolopion wrote in the report’s introductory essay that breaking the global wave of authoritarianism is “the challenge of a generation.”
‘Gender apartheid’
HRW said the Taliban issued new laws restricting women’s freedom of movement and access to public spaces, while enforcing existing bans on post-primary education and limitations on employment, abuses United Nations experts have called “gender apartheid.”
In July, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for senior Taliban leaders for the crime against humanity of gender persecution.
On Oct. 6, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution creating an independent mechanism to investigate past and ongoing human rights abuses in Afghanistan.
‘Morality’ laws
The report also detailed new restrictions on media freedom, arbitrary detentions of critics, and arrests for alleged violations of “morality” laws, including improper hijab use or failing to maintain separate workplace facilities for men and women.
HRW noted that fewer journalists were working due to foreign aid cuts and Taliban policies.
The organization urged governments to continue pressuring the Taliban to end human rights violations.
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