Joint Conference on Four Years of Taliban Rule: Confronting Impunity and Systematic Human Rights Violations

On 15 August 2025, the Initiative for Peacebuilding co-organised a joint conference with academics from Monash University, the University of New South Wales and the Australian National University to mark the fourth anniversary of the withdrawal of Western forces and the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan. The central theme of the conference was the deepening human rights repression under the Taliban rule. The conference featured panels of academics, human rights advocates, and journalists who discussed the systematic and diverse dimensions of human rights repressions under the Taliban regime, with a focus on the rights of women and girls, minority groups, freedom of expression and civic space, and relevant accountability mechanisms. The conference was attended by 80 in-person participants and 50 virtual participants from Australia and around the world.

Dr Niamatullah Ibrahimi delivered the opening remarks of the conference on behalf of the conference co-conveners and participated as an expert on the panel on minority rights to discuss the Taliban’s ideological approaches to ethnic and religious groups. A conference report reflecting the proceedings and panel discussions will be published shortly.