Country: Afghanistan Source: UN Human Rights Council Please refer to the attached file. Human Rights CouncilFifty-eighth session24 February- 4 April 2025Agenda item 2Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-GeneralSummaryThis report was prepared pursuant to Human Rights Council Resolution 57/3 and provides an analysis of the so-called “Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice”.I. Introduction1. On 21 August 2024, the Taliban de facto authorities in Afghanistan published the so-called “Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice” (PVPV law).1 The law codifies and consolidates the many discriminatory decrees, edicts, and policies imposed by the Taliban since seizing power in 2021, solidifying the group’s stranglehold on Afghan society. Women and girls bear the brunt of this oppression; however, no one is spared: men, boys, and gender diverse persons, ethnic and religious minorities, marginalized communities, and independent media all face a deeply repressive regime that dictates almost every aspect of life.2. The announcement of the law sparked an immediate outcry from Afghan human rights defenders, in particular women, who have been at the forefront of resistance to the Taliban’s policies of oppression. The law was also condemned by UN experts, including the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNAMA, the UN Security Council, international NGOs, and members of the international community.3. This study provides an analysis of the PVPV law – its provisions, wide-ranging violations of human rights, and devastating impacts and consequences. It places the law within the broader context of Taliban policies, tracing a clear trajectory of escalating repression since the group retook power, as well as the parallels to the group’s draconian rule from 1996-2001. It further confirms what the Special Rapporteur’s earlier warning – that Afghanistan is now the epicentre of an institutionalized system of gender-based discrimination, oppression, and domination which amounts to crimes against humanity, including the crime of gender persecution. It shows how the group is incrementally, but no less systematically, cementing its control over the lives of the people of Afghanistan, forecasting that the already grave situation is likely to deteriorate still further.4. If allowed to continue, the consequences of the Taliban’s intensifying assault on the rights and freedoms of the people of Afghanistan will be profound and long-lasting, fostering a society marked by fear, division, and exclusion, which normalizes misogyny and entrenches inequality. Without meaningful action to reverse course, repression and isolation will deepen, preventing the emergence of an inclusive, stable, and prosperous Afghanistan.