UN experts are sounding the alarm on critical global human rights issues, highlighting the detrimental impact of digital technologies on freedom of expression, the erosion of women’s rights under the Taliban, the marginalization of lesbian, bisexual, and queer women, and the use of gender-based violence as a tool of repression in Nicaragua.
‘Media Deserts’ and the Shrinking Public Sphere
Special Rapporteur Irene Khan identified digital technology as the most destructive force impacting freedom of expression, leading to ‘media deserts’ and a dangerous shrinking of public spaces. Khan noted that many countries exploit digital tools to suppress dissent, while ‘tech oligarchs’ manipulate online spaces for profit, creating ‘hate-infested’ environments that disproportionately burden women, children, and journalists with online attacks.
Khan pointed to a power imbalance where a single digital company can generate more revenue than the GDP of 130 national governments. She highlighted that individual platforms, with over three billion monthly users, surpass the population of any nation-state. The lines between regulator and regulated are blurring, with populist leaders and even liberal democracies increasingly using criminal laws and weak AI frameworks to censor speech and fuel animosity towards minorities, migrants, and women leaders. Emphasizing that ‘the game has to change,’ Khan urged states to take human rights responsibilities seriously to ensure technology does not undermine global freedom of expression.
Taliban Decree Undermines Rights of Women and Girls
UN experts reported that the Taliban’s new decree on marital separation, issued in April 2026, permits child marriage and obstructs women’s ability to leave abusive relationships. The experts described the decree as leaving women and girls vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, increasing the potential for parental abuse in marriage arrangements, and making it nearly impossible for girls to report or act against domestic abuse. While some provisions allow children to seek separation upon reaching puberty, this exposes girls to years of physical, psychological, sexual, and economic harm before they can seek escape.
The decree lists various undefined conditions for a woman to seek separation from her husband, such as ‘unsuitability,’ disappearance, stubbornness, and religious grounds. Although seemingly an attempt to protect women and girls, these provisions are practically undermined by deeply discriminatory practices and prejudices against women and girls.
Invisibility of Lesbian, Bisexual, and Queer Women
Independent Expert Graeme Reid called on policymakers to address the political and statistical invisibility of lesbian, bisexual, and queer women, whose communities face diverse and intersecting forms of violence and discrimination. Reid stated that despite significant variations in their lived experiences, common structural patterns perpetuate their marginalization. The rights of lesbian, bisexual, and queer women are often regulated through patriarchal institutions and conditioned on their relationships with men, restricting their freedom of movement, rights to housing, land, and property, access to healthcare, and parental rights.
Reid urged states to adopt laws and policies that expand women’s unconditional ability to exercise their rights, address gender-based violence against women linked to their sexual orientation or gender identity, prohibit discrimination in healthcare and other public services, and protect lesbian, bisexual, and queer human rights defenders. He also invited multilateral organizations, national human rights institutions, and civil society to collaborate in supporting these efforts and closing the data gap.
Nicaragua: Gender-Based Violence Used as a Tool of Repression
The UN Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua reported that the Nicaraguan government uses gender-based violence as a tool of political repression against women, girls, and LGBTIQ+ individuals to punish and silence thousands in the country. Expert Ariela Peralta Distéfano stated that hundreds have faced multiple violations and political persecution, exacerbated by gender discrimination and stereotypes. ‘Specifically, Nicaragua has employed particular forms of gender-based violence and repression to target women who play an active and leading role in the country’s public, political, and social life,’ Distéfano said.
The group emphasized that the primary motivation behind the violations, abuses, and crimes against humanity in the country since 2018 has been political. However, they noted that the victims’ gender influences how they are selected, oppressed, and the impacts they endure. Expert Reed Brody commented, ‘The government boasts about gender equality, but the women it has placed in its institutions are the ones enforcing the orders, not giving them.’
