country’s civil society landscape. Certain former legal and institutional protection mechanisms have been dissolved by the Taliban. On 16 May, 2022, the Taliban disbanded Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission.40 Other protection bodies, including the Republic’s national constitution, the Joint Commission for HRDs’ Protection, the Access to Information Commission, and the Commission of Anti-Torture were also dissolved, causing a full-blown rule-oflaw crisis. Moreover, most human rightsoriented CSOs, especially those led by women have been forced to completely halt their human rights operations, while a small number of them have either underground operations or shifted their human rights approach to humanitarian aid, in order to remain active. The HRDs who escaped persecution at the hands of the Taliban and sought refuge in transit countries, namely Pakistan and Iran, face new difficulties. Some of these problems are similar to those inside Afghanistan, while others are context specific. In 2023, for example, the Pakistani authorities announced plans to deport Afghan refugees from this country. The decision created concerns among human rights groups that it would also target individuals at risk who have fled the Taliban’s persecution and that their deportation will endanger their lives. Later, human rights watchdogs reported of “arbitrary detention, arrest, and threat of deportation” against Afghan refugees, including Afghan human rights activists and journalists in Pakistan.41 40 Reuters, Mohammad Yunus Yawar., ‘Taliban Dissolved Afghanistan’s Human Rights Commission, Other Key Bodies’ 16 May, 2022, https://shorturl.at/bDIyG Amnesty International, ‘Pakistan: Govern41 ment Must Stop Ignoring Global Calls to Halt Unlawful Deportation of Afghan Refugee’, 4 April, 2024, https:// shorturl.at/4uddg 16