Art Blog #94

Protest Art - Shamsia Hassani

'Protest art is a specific genre of art that tackles social issues, sometimes witty, sometimes challenging and graphic, protest art is a powerful medium that highlights discrimination and injustice. I admire protest artists as they are using their technical skills and creativity for good.'

The situation in Afghanistan worsened in 2024 as the Taliban authorities intensified their crackdown on human rights, particularly against women and girls. Afghanistan remained the only country where girls and women were banned from secondary and university education, while also facing significant barriers to employment and freedom of movement, assembly, and speech. The Taliban also detained journalists and critics and imposed severe restrictions on the media. Afghanistan’s economic crisis left 23 million in need of humanitarian assistance; women and girls were disproportionally affected.

Justice and Accountability

In September, the UN human rights office presented a report on Afghanistan highlighting the importance of addressing decades of conflict and impunity for widespread human rights abuses and specifically referred to states involved in past military interventions needing to take responsibility for accountability for violations by their nationals.

In 2024, there was no reported progress in the first war crimes charges against a soldier accused of murdering an Afghan civilian in 2012. A UK independent inquiry into alleged abuses by the country’s special forces during detention operations in Afghanistan between 2010-2013 continued in 2024.

On September 25, Germany, Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands, announced that they were initiating legal proceedings against Afghanistan before the International Court of Justice, alleging that the Taliban’s systematic gender-based discrimination and violence violates Afghanistan’s obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which Afghanistan ratified in 2003. It would be the first time a case has been brought before the court under this treaty.

The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution in October underscoring the need to strengthen international efforts to advance accountability for past and ongoing abuses, including through the collection and preservation of evidence, but did not create a mechanism that could support these efforts.

www.hrw.org/world-report/2025/country-chapters/afghanistan

Shamsia Hassani (Quick Bio)

Born April 1988, is the first female graffiti artist of Afghanistan. Through her artworks, Shamsia portrays Afghan women in a male dominant society.

Her art gives Afghan women a different face, a face with power, ambitions, and willingness to achieve goals. The woman character used in her artworks portrays a human being who is proud, loud, and can bring positive changes to people’s lives. During the last decade of post-war era in Afghanistan, Shamsia’s works have brought in a huge wave of color and appreciation to all the women in the country.

Her artworks have inspired thousands of women around the world and has given a new hope to female Afghan artists in the country. She has motivated hundreds of Afghans to bring in their creativity through her graffiti festival, art classes, and exhibitions in different countries around the world.

www.shamsiahassani.net