The PPT was asked by four human rights organisations to deal with the situation of severe human rights violations and to address the impunity around gender persecution in Afghanistan. The session was held in Madrid on 8-10 October 2025, as result of the joint work of the following organisations: Rawadari, Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization (AHRDO), Organization for Policy Research and Development Studies (DROPS) and Human Rights Defender Plus (HRD+). Together, the organisations presented the indictment and asked the Tribunal to consider the crime against humanity of gender persecution given the De Facto Authorities’ consistent violations of Afghanistan’s human rights obligations pursuant to a multitude of international conventions.
In line with its mission, this session of the PPT has examined the systemic nature of the violations, their various manifestations, and the root causes of their continued occurrence. On October 10th, a preliminary statement was issued by the panel of judges, containing an overview of the public hearings, the evidence provided by the prosecutorial team and by the witness testimonies, and a list of recommendations. The panel of judges is currently in the process of writing their final judgement which will be presented on 11th December 2025 at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague.