In an unprecedented initiative, four leading human rights organizations have announced the establishment of the first Permanent People’s Tribunal for Afghan Women. Scheduled for October this year in Madrid, the tribunal aims to document and address the Taliban’s systematic violations of women’s rights in Afghanistan.
According to an official statement by the coalition, the tribunal is being organized in collaboration with Outright International, the Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization, the Research and Development Foundation, and the Human Rights Defenders Assembly.
While the tribunal holds no legal enforcement power, organizers emphasize its symbolic and historical significance as a platform for global advocacy, justice-seeking, and documentation of atrocities against Afghan women.
The tribunal will bring together international lawyers, survivors of violence, petitioners, and expert witnesses to examine crimes including discrimination, suppression, systematic exclusion, and restrictions on education, employment, and public participation imposed by the Taliban since their return to power in August 2021.
Inspired by historic tribunals such as the Vietnam War Crimes Tribunal and other genocide-related people’s courts, this initiative seeks to challenge impunity and amplify the voices of Afghan women on the global stage.
