Oral Statement for the 58th Session of the UN Human Rights Council

Speaker: Mohammad Asghar Surush

I Thank you Mr President and Delegates,

ADDO, CSHRN, HRD+, and OMCT stand before this Council with deep concern over the escalating human rights crisis in Afghanistan. Civic space is disappearing—journalists, human rights defenders, and peaceful protesters face arbitrary arrests, threats, and violence for simply speaking out.

Women and girls bear the brunt of this repression. The systematic erasure of their rights—bans on education, work, and public life—amounts to gender apartheid. Their voices are silenced, their futures stolen.
The reports of torture, inhumane treatment, and forced confessions from OMCT and HRD+ are deeply alarming. Political prisoners endure harsh conditions and unfair trials, with no hope for justice.
Afghan refugees in neighbouring countries face detention, insults and forced deportation.

This Council must act. We urge:

• Our neighbouring countries, specifically Iran and Pakistan to respect the rights of Afghan citizens according to accepted international norms. Mass deportation is a serios concern about the lives of HRDs and other vulnerable groups.
• Immediate release of detained activists and journalists unjustly imprisoned for their work.
• An end to gender-based discrimination, ensuring women and girls can access education and employment
• We repeat our call on the council to create an independent accountability mechanism to monitor, document, preserve and follow-up on human rights violations and hold perpetrators accountable.

Afghanistan must not be forgotten!

Thank you.