News Center- Four Afghan civil society organizations, Rawadari, Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization (AHRDO), Organization for Policy Research and Development Studies (DROPS), and Human Rights Defenders Plus (HRD+), announced in a joint statement on Thursday the launch of the People’s Tribunal for Afghan Women, an independent initiative aimed at investigating and exposing the Taliban’s gender persecution.

The tribunal will be held from October 8 and 10 in Madrid, Spain, in collaboration with the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal (PPT), an international human rights organization founded in Bologna, Italy.

The tribunal will hear testimonies from Afghan women and girls who have faced systematic repression since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021. “The tribunal will pave the way for Afghan women and girls to make their voice heard all around the world,” the statement said.

According to the statement, an indictment is currently being prepared by four Afghan prosecutors with expertise in international criminal law and gender-based violence, supported by an international expert team.

In July 2025, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Hebatullah Akhundzadeh, the highest official of the Taliban, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, the president of the Supreme Court of this group, over the alleged persecution of women in Afghanistan.

In the statement, the organizers of the tribunal welcomed the arrest warrants, saying, “Global action remains insufficient. The silence of other states while crimes against humanity are taking place is a crime itself. This tribunal will make the world listen to Afghan women and girls.”