Independent Tribunal to Deliver Historic Judgement on Gender Persecution of Afghan Women
THE HAGUE, Netherlands – 11 December 2025 – An international panel of judges will present the verdict of the People’s Tribunal for Women of Afghanistan on 11 December 2025 at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague, following three days of public hearings that examined extensive evidence of the Taliban’s systematic repression of women and girls since returning to power in August 2021.
The Tribunal was convened by the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) and organized by a coalition of Afghan civil society organizations to provide a public forum for survivor testimony, legal analysis, and international scrutiny of Taliban policies affecting women and girls.
The hearings, held in Madrid from 8–10 October 2025, brought together survivors, witnesses, prosecutors, human-rights defenders, and international legal experts. Evidence presented to the Tribunal documented widespread bans on education and employment, severe restrictions on healthcare and freedom of movement, arbitrary detention, torture, sexual violence in custody, enforced disappearances, and the violent suppression of women’s protests and public expression.
The accused party —the Taliban leadership, the de facto authorities in Afghanistan — were formally notified of the proceedings and offered the right to defence, but did not appear before the Tribunal.
Prosecutors have argued that Taliban policies and practices may constitute crimes against humanity under international law, including gender persecution, as well as other inhumane acts prohibited under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The legal submissions also address violations of multiple binding international human-rights treaties to which Afghanistan remains a State Party.
Survivors and witnesses will attend the judgment presentation, as will members of the international panel of judges and prominent figures in the fields of human rights, women’s rights, and gender justice.
Date: 11 December 2025
Time: 14:00 CET
Location: International Institute of Social Studies (ISS),
Kortenaerkade 12, 2518 AX, The Hague, Netherlands
The proceedings will also be livestreamed:
English: https://youtube.com/live/IiXXanTAKgs?feature=share
Pashto: https://youtube.com/live/8Qg7btYLJ8I?feature=share
Dari: https://youtube.com/live/MaNF3SAjKYg?feature=share
The international panel of judges includes former United Nations mandate-holders, senior international human-rights lawyers, constitutional experts, and veteran journalists with decades of experience reporting on gender, conflict, and justice.
The People’s Tribunal for Women of Afghanistan forms part of a growing global effort to document violations, resist the normalization of gender-based repression, and advance (victim-centered ) international accountability for crimes committed against Afghan women and girls.
Media Contacts: Media contact: afg-pt@rawadari.org | tareen@rawadari.org | +34 612 567 583
