Afghanistan: One of six WCLRF staff members remains arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared for more than two months

Geneva-Paris, 5 October 2026. On 18 July 2026, six human rights defenders (HRDs), all staff members of the Women and Children Legal Research Foundation (WCLRF) in Afghanistan, were arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared. On 22 September 2026, five of them – Mr. Abdul Qadir Hammedi, Sultan Ali Rahimi, Hamid Ahmad Saddiqi, Ahmad Sayem Hazim, Besmillah Bahin – were released but Mr. Abdul Matin Hakimi remains in custody and has been transferred to Bargan prison. The undersigned organisations, including the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), strongly condemn the arbitrary detention of the six WCLRF staff members and calls on the Taliban authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Abdul Matin Hakimi. The Observatory and the signatory organisations also raise concern about the continuous severe risks faced by human rights defenders, particularly those working to promote and protect the rights of women and children.

According to information received by the Observatory through SOS-Defenders, on 21 June 2026, Taliban intelligence forces reportedly raided the WCLRF office in Kabul, confiscated staff members’ phones and laptops, searched and sealed the premises, and questioned staff about the organisation’s activities. On 18 July 2026, staff members – Abdul Qadir Hammedi, Sultan Ali Rahimi, Hamid Ahmad Saddiqi, Ahmad Sayem Hazim, Besmillah Bahin and Abdul Matin Hakimi – were instructed by Taliban to return to the organisation’s office to collect devices that had been confiscated during the raid. Instead, they were taken into custody by Taliban intelligence forces and remained in detention for more than two months, until the release of five of them on 22 September 2026. The defenders were reportedly targeted because of their activities with WCLRF, an Afghan organisation working on women’s and children’s rights.

During their detention, Taliban authorities failed to provide the defenders’ families with information regarding their whereabouts, condition, or the legal grounds for their detention. By withholding this information while the defenders were deprived of liberty, the authorities subjected them to enforced disappearance. The absence of legal safeguards during their detention also raises concern in light of the serious risk of torture and ill-treatment they may have faced. These risks were documented in an OMCT report published in 2025 on detention facilities operated by the Taliban’s Directorate of Intelligence.

The detention of the six WCLRF HRDs took place in a broader context of closed civic space and continuous reprisals against those documenting and defending human rights in Afghanistan. In his latest report, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan highlights the continued restrictions on freedom of expression and association for civil society and non-governmental organisations between November and August 2026. He raises particular concerns over threats and reprisals against human rights defenders and educators. Since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, they have increasingly restricted access to education, including through the continued ban on secondary education for girls and higher education for women. The Special Rapporteur also found in 2024 that these measures form part of an institutionalised system of discrimination, segregation, exclusion and disrespect for the dignity of women and girls and concluded that the pattern of violations may amount to the crime against humanity of gender persecution.

The impact of these restrictions also extends to children. The Special Rapporteur notes that specialised education centres for children with visual or hearing impairments have been closed or inadequately supported, while girls’ access to these centres has been severely restricted. The obstacles faced by organisations working to promote and protect the rights of women and children further aggravate their situation and undermine their access to basic needs in Afghanistan.

The Observatory and the signatory organisations recall that Afghanistan remains bound by its international human rights obligations, including under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. These obligations continue to apply to the authorities exercising effective control over the territory.

The Observatory and the signatory organisations condemn the arbitrary detention of the six WCLRF HRDs and urges the Taliban to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Abdul Matin Hakimi.

The Observatory and the signatory organisations call on the Taliban to clarify the legal grounds for the deprivation of liberty and to conduct a prompt, independent and impartial investigation into the circumstances of their detention and enforced disappearance.

The Observatory and the signatory organisations urge the Taliban to ensure that all persons participating in any investigation into the detention of the six HRDs are protected from torture, ill-treatment, threats or intimidation.

The Observatory and the signatory organisations further call on the Taliban to guarantee that human rights defenders and civil society organisations, particularly organisations protecting the rights of women and children, can carry out their legitimate activities freely, safely and without fear of retaliation.