2023: Afghanistan

Every year on the 24^th of January, the International Day of the Lawyer in Danger mobilises the international community on the difficulties and threats to the practice of law. The situation of lawyers in Afghanistan was chosen for the year 2023. Lawyers have been targeted since the Taliban government took power on 15^th of August 2021.

The impossibility or even the prohibition for women to practice their profession and the obligation for men to obtain a new licence under the control of the terrible Taliban Ministry of Justice, undermine the free exercise of lawyers’ profession. Not to mention the dramatic deterioration of the rule of law, jeopardising the lives of thousands of Afghans, including many lawyers, forced to flee or hide in the country.

On the occasion of this international day, the OIAD is organising a virtual conference on the 20^th of January 2023 entitled “The defence of defence in times of crisis”, which will provide an opportunity to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, but also in Ukraine and Iran.

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Join us online for this mobilisation day. The debates will be fully translated into English, French, Spanish and Italian.

We also invite you to participate in the OIAD’s workshops.

Consult the agenda for the 20^th of January 2023 HERE.

Please contribute to the success of this international day by disseminating the brochure on the situation of lawyers in Afghanistan on your website, among your members and your social network. The brochure is available in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German and Dari. Please feel free to use the Observatory’s material.

Do not hesitate to follow the Observatory on Twitter @ProtectLawyers   and retweet us!

Your participation is essential to support our Afghan colleagues!

Download the brochure:

The Observatory denounces the attacks on the free exercise of the legal profession in Afghanistan

The Observatory calls on the international community, including the European Union and its Member States, to issue visas and provide protection to prominent members of Afghan civil society, including lawyers and human rights defenders, journalists and artists, who are particularly at risk because of their commitment.

The Observatory condemns in the strongest possible terms the increasing number of serious and ongoing human rights violations, in particular against Afghan women and girls, who have been denied access to schooling by the Taliban and forced to wear the full veil.