Metra Mehran

Ms. Metra Mehran is a human rights activist and Founder of the Afghanistan Justice Archive, which monitors Taliban decrees, collects testimonies documenting their impact on women’s lives, and analyzes these findings through the lens of international law in order to advance international accountability mechanisms to hold the Taliban responsible for violations of women’s rights. Now living in exile, Ms. Mehran advocates for the recognition of the systematic and institutionalized oppression of women under the Taliban as gender apartheid, and for its codification under international law. She is also the Co-founder of the Afghanistan Accountability Collective, which brings together national and international actors from both inside and outside Afghanistan to strengthen coordination and foster efforts around accountability mechanisms. Ms. Mehran was recognized as a finalist for the European Parliament’s 2021 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, and regularly speaks at international convenings and provides media commentary on outlets such as CNN, NBC and BBC. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Just Security, and The Diplomat, amongst other publications, and her most recent co-authored piece for Opinio Juris, called for inclusive justice in the development of a Crimes Against Humanity Treaty, emphasizing the need to center gender-based crimes within its framework