Issues

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), strongly condemns today’s arrest of human rights defender Ms. Nargess Mohammadi in Iran.

Iranian security forces have arrested a prominent activist just days after she was charged in court with crimes “against national security”, a human rights group has said.

As rumors swirl about a new round of peace talks with the Afghan Taliban, the first under Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, women are fighting for a place at the table. The view from the front lines of that fight is maddening.

Latest figures from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) show a continuing trend of record high civilian casualties, with deaths and injuries from ground engagements in Afghanistan remaining the leading cause.

It is not easy to sum up a year that started with a series of faith-based assaults on religious minorities and came to an end with a massacre of young students that led to the highest death toll in a terrorist attack in the nation’s history.

Experiences in Afghanistan highlight the fundamental challenge IEDs pose to the humanitarian sector, as the principles of neutrality and impartiality are eroded and humanitarian aid is increasingly militarized and politicized.

Farangis Sogand studied political science and has occupied herself with civil and cultural activities for the past six years. She is a member of organizations such as the Afghanistan Pen Association and the Writers of the Balkh. She is the founder of two literary associations

Reports of 400 lives lost in the Mediterranean between April 11-13, 2015, should force the European Union to implement a vast search-and-rescue operation, Human Rights Watch said today. Eleven bodies have been recovered so far from one confirmed shipwreck over the past few days.

Islamic State militants play on sectarian division as they tear Iraq apart, but a group of young Iraqi “citizen ambassadors” is trying to mend the damage by promoting a message of tolerance and peace.

With Afghanistan’s educated class growing rapidly over the past decade while education resources remain scarce, there is an increasing need for a functioning public library system, AAN’s Qayoom Suroush argues.