At the Ilustre Colegio de la Abogacía de Madrid, the usual hum of lawyers and legal scholars gave way to silence on Wednesday, as the voices of Afghan women echoed through the hall. In that historic building, women survivors of torture and repression spoke before a panel of international judges at the People’s Tribunal for Women of Afghanistan, which had been convened by the Permanent People’s Tribunal.
The tribunal aims to document and expose the systematic gender persecution under Taliban rule. It was requested by four Afghan civil society organizations: Rawadari, the Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization (AHRDO), the Organization for Policy Research and Development Studies (DROPS), and Human Rights Defenders Plus.
“Today, we will bear witness, seek accountability, and challenge tyranny and its normalization,” said Shahrazad Akbar, executive director of Rawadari, speaking on behalf of the four civil society organizations. “We are here to raise awareness and demand solidarity from women and men around the world, for we know that true power lies with the people.”
The tribunal will conclude on October 10, when the panel of judges from the Permanent People’s Tribunal will issue preliminary findings.
On the first day, eight witnesses testified, some in person, others online or through recorded statements due to security concerns. Each person’s testimony, though usually cautious and fragmented, painted a haunting picture of life under Taliban rule: the shuttered schools, fear of arrest, and the quiet persistence of women who refuse to disappear.
Among them was a young student who survived three suicide bombings, including the 2022 attack on the Kaaj educational centre in Kabul, which killed at least 53 students, most of them girls.
Wearing a black mask and sunglasses to conceal her identity, she began by thanking the judges: “Thank you for giving us, the silenced survivors of war and discrimination, an opportunity to be heard,” adding, “I am here today to say knowledge should not be criminalized, and no girl should be deprived of education.”
A week before she was due to take the national university entrance exam, she was studying at the centre when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives. Though badly injured in the deadly attack, she still insisted on sitting for the exam.
“I could only answer 42 out of 300 questions, then I collapsed and was transferred to the hospital,” she said, adding that it was not solely because of her injuries, but because her right to education was taken from her.
She still bears the physical scars of the attack, and the pain resurfaces from time to time. But she refuses to stop. “I don’t accept defeat and I will not give up,” she said, “because I don’t have any other choices.”
The proceedings in Madrid are not a formal legal court but rather one that carries symbolic and moral authority. Convened by the Permanent People’s Tribunal, an independent international body with a long history of examining human rights abuses where states fail to act, the session was led by four Afghan prosecutors: Azadah Raz Mohammad, Benafsha Yaqoobi, Orzala Nemat, and Moheb Mudessir.
Their case accuses the Taliban of committing the crime against humanity of gender persecution, as defined in Article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“The Taliban’s actions are clearly widespread and systematic,” said Azadah Raz Mohammad. “These are not isolated incidents, but part of a deliberate policy enforced through law, police, and institutions, with the specific intent to oppress women and uphold male domination.”
Orzala Nemat explained that the prosecution’s indictment targets the Taliban leadership, including its leader and nine senior officials, as well as the structures that sustain their ideology of gender apartheid.
Benafsha Yaqoobi, a long-time advocate for women with disabilities in Afghanistan, told the tribunal, “We are gathered here not only to record what is happening, but to affirm that the suffering of Afghan women and girls will not be forgotten.”
Some of the other witnesses were protesters who had been arrested and tortured after taking part in demonstrations for women’s rights in Afghanistan. Their accounts were brief, shaped by the trauma of reliving their experiences, but they left members of the audience in tears.
One described how Taliban guards put a gun to her six-year-old nephew’s head to force her to confess. Another recounted how she knocked on the wall of her cell to send a message to a fellow prisoner before being released. “If she was killed, she can know that I will be her voice,” she said, adding, “Please hear our voices.”
While much of the Tribunal focused on documenting crimes, another central theme was a warning: The growing normalization of the Taliban must end.
Speakers and prosecutors condemned the current tendency among governments and international organizations to engage with the Taliban as a legitimate political actor despite their ongoing human rights violations.
“The devastating human rights and women’s rights situation in Afghanistan is apparent and well-documented and yet, it is being normalized by governments around the world despite its severity,” said Shahrazad Akbar. “The international response to the relentless attacks on Afghan women’s rights has been marked by an abject lack of meaningful global action.”
Her remarks came just one day after Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told Sky News that the group already enjoys informal recognition from multiple countries. “It’s not just Russia that has recognized us openly. There are many other countries that have recognized us, but not declared it publicly. Their ambassadors are here in Kabul and our ambassadors are in those countries too, and we have political and economic relations with them,” Mujahid said.
For the women testifying in Madrid, such statements by the Taliban only underscore the urgency of international accountability. Many believe that engagement with the regime without pressure to change their ways amounts to complicity and normalization.
Despite carrying the scars of the attacks she survived, the young Kaaj educational centre survivor continues her education from exile. “I will not accept defeat, I will not give up because I have no other choice,” she said.
For the witnesses, speaking may have been cathartic but it was also risky, as many still have family members in Afghanistan living under Taliban surveillance. One masked woman told Zan Times after her testimony that she was “both worried and hopeful.”
“I am worried because I don’t know how this will affect the safety of my family,” she said. “But I am happy, because I spoke out. I raised my voice for the women of Afghanistan.”
Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, who was also present at the tribunal, described the event as a vital “tool” in addressing ongoing abuses. “It is giving Afghan women survivors and victims the opportunity to make an official public statement to a panel of judges. And this really goes into the historic record,” he told Zan Times.
While acknowledging that the tribunal will not result in judicial accountability, Bennett said its role is similar to that of a truth commission, it helps survivors speak their truth and keeps their voices alive to an international audience.
In her remarks, Shahrazad Akbar emphasized that the Tribunal was also a statement of hope. “We are here because we believe Afghanistan is not a lost cause,” she said. “The choice before the world is clear: to normalize the misogynist and oppressive vision of the Taliban, or to stand with the vision of Afghan women for a democratic and rights-respecting future for Afghanistan and beyond.”
Zahra Nader is the editor-in-chief of Zan Times.
