This morning, the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan published a briefing paper on the serious and far-reaching human rights impacts of last month's telecommunications shutdowns in Afghanistan - a measure which only served to compound the array of difficulties already faced by the population.
From its health systems to the banking sector and everyday operations of small businesses, the people of Afghanistan are heavily reliant on telecommunications systems to access essential services.
This paper is based on more than 100 interviews in the aftermath of the 48-hour nationwide shutdown implemented by the de facto authorities between 29 September and 1 October 2025.
Among the human rights impacts documented were: delayed or no access to healthcare and emergency services; disruption of humanitarian operations; exacerbation of existing discriminatory restrictions on women and girls; infringement on people's daily and family lives due to the inability to contact others; and disruption of the conduct of business and banking.
Women and girls in Afghanistan have already been subjected to the most draconian restrictions. Women interviewed shared their experiences of how their lives became even more difficult during the shutdown.
For example, some women were unable to contact their male guardians, or mahrams, during the shutdown. In Afghanistan, women must be accompanied by a mahram for distances over 78 kilometres or when travelling in a vehicle. In some parts of the country, mahrams are required to accompany a woman when she is going shopping, to work or to a healthcare facility less than 78km from her home. One woman was unable to contact her father for this purpose and was forced to walk home alone. In her words: "I was very scared when I was on my way home, but fortunately, I made it home safely after about one hour."
Online learning remains the only avenue left for many Afghan women and girls to receive an education, because of the de facto authorities' ban on women and girls continuing any education beyond the sixth grade. One student said: "I can simply say that those were very difficult days and nights for us [during the shutdown]. We were extremely terrified that we may be pulled to the stone age era of human history. It was an unbearable period of my life."
Healthcare workers spoke about preventable deaths which occurred because of the shutdown. A pregnant woman went to a hospital in Laghman province with severe bleeding and needed to be urgently transferred to the provincial hospital for treatment, but the hospital's ambulance had broken down and there was no way to call for help. The baby died, and the woman survived with complications. The nurse said: "As a health worker, I am trained to save lives, but without communication, I was feeling helpless."
Humanitarian workers said the shutdown seriously disrupted their work and delayed the provision of vital support to the population. At the time, humanitarians were responding to the needs of communities impacted by the 31 August earthquake which hit Nangarhar, Laghman and Kunar provinces, as well as an influx of people involuntarily returned from Pakistan.
Shutdowns and other disproportionate restrictions on communications violate the rights to freedom of expression and access to information, and are contrary to Afghanistan's human rights obligations. The de facto authorities have made no public comment to date on the reasons for the shutdown. As duty bearers of Afghanistan's human rights obligations, they must ensure that any restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and access to information are provided by law and are a necessary and proportionate response to a legitimate concern under international human rights law.
Briefing paper on the impact of telecommunications shutdowns on the Afghan people [English, Dari, Pashto] - download here.
