Policy Brief – Designing the Right Investigative Mechanism for Afghanistan

This policy brief synthesizes key findings from the HRC59 side event “From Call to Action: Designing the Right Investigative Mechanism for Afghanistan” organised on June 17, 2025 by the Center for Dialogue and Progress – Geneva (CDP-G) with support from cosponsors, Action for Development, Malala Fund, Center for Human Rights Advocacy and the End Gender Apartheid Campaign. The panel, moderated by Hamid Formuli (CDP-G), brought together UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett, Human Rights Watch’s Afghanistan Researcher Fereshta Abbasi, and legal expert and PhD candidate at Melbourne Law School, Azadah Raz Mohammad to address the urgent need for establishing an independent accountability mechanism for Afghanistan and offer recommendations on its scope and format, keeping the victims, efficiency and financial limitations at the center.