Human Rights Watch urges IEA to release detained UN and NGO staff

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urgently called on Afghanistan’s de facto authorities, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), to release two United Nations staff members and six NGO workers who have been detained in recent weeks. The rights group’s appeal comes amid growing international concern over the operating environment for humanitarian and aid organizations in the country .

In a statement released on Wednesday, HRW detailed the case of six male employees of the Women and Children Legal Research Foundation (WCLRF). The NGO, which is involved in aid programs and advocacy for women’s and children’s rights, had its staff “forcibly disappeared” from its Kabul office last month . The organization’s leadership team was arrested on July 18 after Taliban officials summoned them to return to the office to collect confiscated devices, according to HRW. Their families have received no information about their whereabouts, condition, or any potential charges against them .

The detentions followed a previous raid on the WCLRF office on June 21, during which security forces confiscated belongings and sealed the premises . Macarena Sáez, women’s rights director at Human Rights Watch, stated, “The Taliban seems to consider any effort to assist women and girls a threat to their abusive rule,” and called for the immediate release of the staff unless they are charged with a recognizable offense .

In a separate incident on Sunday, two Afghan staff members of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) were detained by IEA intelligence officials in the western city of Herat . The UN has confirmed the detentions but stated it has not been informed of the charges against them and has not been permitted to visit them . Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, called on the de facto authorities “to ensure compliance with the privileges and immunities of the United Nations and its officials” .

Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan Researcher at Human Rights Watch, warned that the detentions of UNAMA staff threaten the UN’s ability to deliver lifesaving aid . UNAMA plays a critical role in Afghanistan as the UN’s political mission, involved in human rights monitoring, data gathering, and coordination of humanitarian efforts, and its reports have frequently been criticized by the IEA government .

The IEA’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told Reuters he was “trying to gather details” about the recent detentions but had “not received final clarity” . The detentions have become public just days before the Taliban are set to celebrate the fifth anniversary of their return to power on Saturday . Meanwhile, Afghanistan remains heavily reliant on international assistance, which aid groups say is increasingly jeopardized by such obstructions and arbitrary detentions .

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