The Human Rights Agency of Universities: A Case Study on the Crisis in Afghanistan

Summary

ABSTRACT

Universities, as hubs of free exchange and analysis, and as cradles of new generations of change-makers, have always played a crucial role in contributing both a sound scientific basis for, and an analytical voice on, political decisionmaking. In recent years, when governments appear less capable and willing to protect democratic values and human rights, actors and institutions outside of governments are taking up an increasing responsibility towards achieving these objectives. In the context of the emergence of non-traditional human rights actors, this contribution analyses the human rights agency of universities. As a case study, it focuses on the recent crisis in Afghanistan, triggered by the Taliban takeover in August 2021, which resulted in a severe curtailing of academic freedom and an exodus of Afghans from the country. The crisis mobilised not only civil society, but also the academic world, to an exceptional degree. This translated into a variety of university initiatives and programmes, including protecting atrisk researchers, strengthening human rights education programmes, investing in practice- and advocacy-oriented research, and reinforcing academic interventions in political fora. Using the example of the response to the crisis in Afghanistan, this contribution thus analyses the developing role of universities as human rights actors, in particular their increasing human rights agency and evolving self-understanding, in a progressively challenging political climate.

INTRODUCTION

One of the most newsworthy crises of 2021 was the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, following the retreat of the US military after a 20-year presence in the country. In 2022, the war in Ukraine, following the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory on 24 February, has swiftly replaced Afghanistan as the crisis situation dominating global news. Nevertheless, even though it is, by now, largely beyond the attention of the general public – with the exception of the continued closure of girls’ schools by the Taliban, which hit the news on 23 March 2022 – the humanitarian and human rights situation in Afghanistan remains concerning.

In the past year, the crisis in Afghanistan has triggered an exodus of international organisations and NGOs, as well as a movement of refugees out of Afghanistan, after hundreds of thousands of Afghan nationals found themselves at serious risk of losing their lives or liberty, or access to work and education, under a Taliban-led regime.