Afghanistan: Ongoing repression of the press and activists as peaceful protest in Herat disrupted with excessive force

Civic space in Afghanistan remains rated as ‘closed’. Since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, the de facto authorities continue to commit human rights violations and crimes under international law against the Afghan people, especially women and girls, with absolute impunity. Civil society activists, journalists and others face severe restrictions, and activists have been arbitrarily arrested and detained for their criticism of the Taliban. Those who are detained are often denied access to urgent medical and legal assistance. Others have faced harassment, intimidation and violence, and some have been killed. The Taliban have also raided media offices and detained journalists. Some activists have been tortured and ill-treated.

During a side event at the UN Commission on the Status of Women in March 2026, titled “Ensuring Access to Justice for Afghan Women and Girls,” Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, called for the legal recognition of gender apartheid.

A legal review released on 2nd April 2026 by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and UN Women concluded that 16 Taliban measures introduced since 2021 amount to systemic discrimination against women and girls, violating Afghanistan’s obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

In recent months, media outlets have been raided, journalists arrested or intimidated and media restrictions tightened. Female journalists continue to work in secret. Activists have used graffiti to raise concerns on domestic violence. Protests are rare but have continued. The Taliban has responded with excessive force and firearms in a protest in Herat. Activists continued to be detained.

Expression

Media outlets raided or closed

In March 2026, the Taliban suspended broadcasts of Rah-e-Farda TV in Kabul, reportedly after remarks by Mohammad Mohaqiq, a prominent political leader and head of Hezb-e Wahdat-e Islami Mardom-e Afghanistan. Media sources reported that Taliban intelligence halted operations after Mohaqiq criticised the Taliban’s actions in clashes with Pakistan, describing them as “aggression and adventurism” and warning of regional instability.

Authorities did not formally comment, though a spokesperson claimed the remarks threatened national unity. Rah-e-Farda TV, founded in 2006 and previously suspended in 2025, had continued operating under Taliban restrictions despite Mohaqiq’s limited editorial role since 2021. The Afghanistan Journalists Centre (AFJC) condemned the closure and seizure of assets, calling it retaliatory and a serious threat to press freedom.

On 4 March 2026, Taliban authorities shut down Radio Khushal after it aired calls from girls. Officials said the closure was due to violations of “religious, cultural, and social values,” without further explanation. The radio station, launched in 2024 in Ghazni, focused on educational content for women and girls.

Radio Khushal had aired programmes on political, social, economic, cultural, and religious issues. Two of its managers had previously been detained and imprisoned over writings and commentary on Taliban policies and broader social conditions.

AFJC condemned the closure, saying it “severely undermines press freedom and violates the rights of journalists and the public.” The watchdog said the move reflected broader restrictions, including bans on girls contacting the media and, in some areas, prohibitions on broadcasting women’s voices.

Intimidation and arrests of journalists

On 4th May 2026, a day after World Press Freedom Day, journalists attending the Gul Narang Mushaira festival in Jalalabad, Nangarhar, walked out in protest after being insulted by a Taliban official. Journalists said an official from the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture used abusive language over the placement of microphones on stage, reportedly calling journalists “spies” and saying they were “not even human.” Reporters then refused to cover the event.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, on 7th May 2026, Taliban intelligence agents detained TOLOnews presenter Mansoor Niazi in the capital, Kabul. Two days later, authorities detained political editor Imran Danish near the network’s office.

On 10th May 2026, shortly after TOLOnews reported the detentions on social media, dozens of Taliban intelligence officers raided its parent company Moby Group’s office in Kabul. Armed personnel confiscated employees’ phones, questioned staff for several hours, and placed staff under surveillance, according to sources cited in news reports.

Taliban intelligence agents also took control of Niazi’s social media account following his detention and posted messages suggesting he was at home, raising concerns about coercion, reported London-based television station Afghanistan International.

Taliban tightens media restrictions amid Pakistan clashes

Tensions and clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban regime have sharply escalated since late February 2026. At the core of the conflict is Pakistan’s continued assertion that the Afghan Taliban is offering a safe haven for the jihadist militant group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban. Pakistan says the group is operating from within Afghanistan—a claim that the Afghan Taliban repeatedly denies.

Taliban intelligence reportedly warned Afghan media outlets against reporting Taliban casualties from Pakistani airstrikes, threatening “serious consequences” for violations.

Journalists said they were instructed not to report on Pakistani strikes targeting Taliban bases or weapons depots and were told to refer to Pakistan as the “military regime.”

Nai in Exile said press freedom no longer exists in Afghanistan and that domestic media have effectively become Taliban “mouthpieces.” The organisation said journalists are unable to report independently on military operations or alleged abuses.

Crackdown on press freedom

Ahead of World Press Freedom Day on 30th April 2026, Richard Bennett urged the Taliban to immediately release detained journalists and ease restrictions on media freedom. He said the crackdown on press freedom forms part of the wider contraction of civic space in Afghanistan, where human rights defenders, civil society actors, and critics of the Taliban face growing risks of arrest and intimidation.

The Afghanistan Journalists Centre (AFJC) documented at least 34 journalist detentions in 2025 alone. Women journalists face additional barriers, including movement restrictions, mandatory dress codes, and unequal treatment in workplaces.

AFJC recorded at least 150 violations of media freedom and journalists’ rights over the previous 12 months, including 127 threats and 20 arrests of journalists and media workers. Four journalists remained imprisoned, while five detainees were reportedly arrested over beard-length issues linked to Taliban morality regulations.

Rawadari also reported on World Press Freedom Day that hundreds of media outlets have shut down since 2021, while many journalists have been threatened, tortured, detained, or forced into exile. The organisation said that, in the absence of an effective legal framework to protect freedom of expression, Taliban authorities continue to impose extensive controls and restrictions on media activity.

Female journalists working in secret

A 2025 survey published by the Afghanistan Media Support Organisation on 7th March 2026 found that many female journalists continue working secretly despite Taliban restrictions and security threats. According to the survey, 32.7 percent of women journalists continue reporting covertly, while only 6.9 percent are able to work openly.

Many female journalists use pseudonyms and encrypted communication channels to remain connected with media outlets. Nearly 70 percent said they practise self-censorship due to threats, surveillance, and isolation. AMSO emphasised that women journalists continue to play a critical role in reporting from Afghanistan despite high personal risks, and called for secure communication networks, mental health services, and formal recognition of their work.

Graffiti against domestic violence

On 7th May 2026, members of the Women’s History Transformation Movement painted protest messages on walls across Kabul to raise awareness about increasing domestic violence against women.

The activists said the graffiti campaign was carried out in response to increasing reports of family violence against women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.

Activists linked the rise in abuse to worsening economic conditions, unemployment, social restrictions, and limited access to legal protection and support services for women under Taliban rule.

Peaceful Assembly

Despite severe restrictions imposed by the Taliban following their return to power in August 2021, Afghan women and civil society activists continued to organise protests, advocacy initiatives, and symbolic actions throughout the reporting period. These efforts, carried out amid an increasingly shrinking civic space and heightened repression, focused largely on opposing what activists describe as “gender apartheid” — the systematic discrimination and exclusion of women and girls from public, educational, and professional life.

Protests in Kabul on International Women’s Day

Throughout March 2026, Afghan women continued awareness campaigns and protest activities despite significant risks. On 8th March 2026, a small group of women protested in Kabul, calling for equal rights and an end to what they described as “gender apartheid” under Taliban rule. During the same period, Afghan women shared testimonies describing severe restrictions on education, employment, movement, and freedom of expression.

Excessive force and firearms used to disrupt protest against dress code for women

On 9th June 2026, Taliban authorities cracked down on a protest over women's dress code violations. Between 100 and 150 Afghan men had reportedly gathered in the western city of Herat to show their solidarity with more than a dozen women who had been arrested the week before for going out in public without a full chador cloak or face-covering burqa.

The protest had reportedly been organised via social media where residents were called upon to "defend the rights of our sisters."

But security forces dispersed the protest using "sticks, whips and firearms," one witness told the AFP news agency, adding: "They even fired shots into the air." Medics told the BBC two people died.

A photographer at the rally told AFP he saw security forces "striking protesters and firing weapons in the direction of the crowd," adding: "A significant number of people were injured."

Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan expressed concern over the excessive use of force against protesters in Herat. He called for de-escalation, respect for freedom of expression and accountability for those responsible for violence.

International solidarity demonstrations

International solidarity demonstrations also took place outside Afghanistan. On 22nd March 2026, members of the Justice-Seeking Movement released a video message during Afghan New Year celebrations, stating that they were sewing Afghanistan’s national flag to symbolise the suffering, displacement, and forced migration experienced by Afghans in recent years.

On 1st April 2026, former Afghan lawmaker Baktash Siawash launched a sit-in protest outside the European Parliament in Brussels to draw attention to the human rights situation in Afghanistan and seek justice for Afghan women. He called on European governments to formally recognise “gender apartheid” in Afghanistan and criticised ongoing diplomatic engagement with the Taliban as “silent diplomacy.”

On World Press Freedom Day, 3rd May 2026, women protesters staged a symbolic performance highlighting the exclusion of women journalists from Afghan media since 15th August 2021. Protesters emphasised that the performance reflected the lived experiences of women journalists in Afghanistan, many of whom have been silenced, excluded from public platforms, or forced to continue their work covertly due to fear of reprisals.

Association

Detention of activists

The Taliban detained two civil activists in Herat, Qadoos Khatibi and Fayyaz Ghori, on 28th March 2026 after they publicly called for the reopening of girls’ schools and universities.

The two were arrested over social media posts supporting girls’ education. In a Facebook post, Khatibi urged the Taliban to “open the doors of schools and universities to the girls of Afghanistan.”

Nearly five years have passed since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, a period marked by the closure of secondary schools and universities to girls and women. During this time, girls’ education has come to a complete halt, and anyone who dares to speak out in protest often faces swift and harsh punishment.

Taliban detain family members of former parliamentarian

Fawzia Koofi, a former member of Afghanistan’s parliament and a women’s rights advocate, who lives in exile, said in May 2026 that the Taliban have seized her personal residence in Afghanistan and detained members of her family. Koofi said in a statement on 2nd May that the Taliban seized her home three months ago.

According to her, members of her family and relatives had moved to another location, but the Taliban raided again and detained several of them. Koofi added that the Taliban also arrested some residents of Badakhshan Province who were not even related to her.