Three Years of Taliban Rule in Afghanistan: The Human Rights, Humanitarian and Political Crises

The report summarises the discussions and outcomes of the Afghanistan Conference marking Three Years of Taliban Rule in Afghanistan: The Human Rights, Humanitarian, and Political Crises, held on August 30, 2024, in Melbourne. The conference was jointly organised by La Trobe University, Monash University, and the Middle East Studies Forum at Deakin University, and led by Abbas Farasoo, Farkhondeh Akbari, Niamatullah Ibrahimi and Arif Saba. The conference addressed the intersecting political, humanitarian, human rights, and security crises that have escalated since the Taliban assumed control in August 2021. The report covers five panel discussions and a keynote speech by Richard Bennett, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan. The panels critically discussed the challenges of diplomatic engagement with the Taliban, the dire human rights situation, risks of terrorism and insecurity for different groups and gender, the humanitarian crisis, and the roles of Afghanistan’s diaspora in addressing these challenges. The report makes concrete recommendations on addressing the multifaceted crises in Afghanistan.