
Egypt: Reform unjust vice laws, guarantee open civic space
During Egypt's UPR adoption at HRC59, Nora Noralla delivered a joint statement on behalf of ISHR, Cairo 52 and Middle East Democracy Center. Watch and read the full statement below.
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A joint report by the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Afghanistan and the Working Group on Discrimination against Women in law and practice found that grave, systematic and institutionalised discrimination against women and girls is at the heart of Taliban ideology and rule.
The joint report builds the case of prosecution of gender persecution as per the Rome Statutes, expressing the ‘critical concern’ that women and girls are being ‘targeted for gender persecution because of their sex characteristics and because of the social constructs and criteria used to define gender roles, behaviour, activities and attributes’.
The experts believe this also gives rise to concerns that the Taliban may be responsible for gender apartheid, which although not yet an explicit international crime, points to the need for the development of ‘legal standards and tools’ on gender apartheid as a crime against humanity.
Richard Bennett, the Special Rapporteur, highlighted the following key recommendations from the report:
South Africa’s representative at the Council supported UN Experts’ reflections on the consideration of a gender apartheid framing: ‘My delegation therefore calls on the international community to take action against what the report describes as ‘gender apartheid’, much like it did in support of South Africa’s struggle against racial apartheid,’ she said.
The deputy permanent representative of the government of Namibia further supported the call to the Human Rights Council to mandate a report ‘on gender apartheid as an institutionalised system of discrimination, segregation, humiliation and exclusion of women and girls in Afghanistan’.
Statements from Afghan women human rights defenders pointed to the continued lack of serious and sustained attention of the international community despite the grave situation in Afghanistan. Their interventions demonstrated that the urgent need for an accountability mechanism has not diminished.
The enhanced interactive dialogue also paid tribute to the resistance of so many Afghan women whose determination to continue to exercise their rights through creative, peaceful initiatives deserve to be nourished and supported.
Download as PDFDuring Egypt's UPR adoption at HRC59, Nora Noralla delivered a joint statement on behalf of ISHR, Cairo 52 and Middle East Democracy Center. Watch and read the full statement below.
The 59th session of the UN Human Rights Council (16 June to 9 July 2025) will consider issues including civil society space, climate change, sexual orientation and gender identity, violence and discrimination against women and girls, poverty, peaceful assembly and association, and freedom of expression, among others. It will also present an opportunity to address grave human rights situations including in Afghanistan, Belarus, China, Eritrea, Israel and oPt, Sudan, Syria and Venezuela, among many others. Here’s an overview of some of the key issues on the agenda.
On 8 May 2025, during the 83rd ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), ISHR delivered a statement under Item 5, which focused on the activity report of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders. The statement reaffirmed ISHR’s strong commitment to the protection and empowerment of defenders across Africa.