A Conversation with Dr. Sima Samar with Afghan Women Judges Freshta Masomi, Bibi Wahida Raimi, and Zamila Sangar

A Nobel Peace Prize nominee, renowned human rights advocate and an identified global influential female figure, Dr. Sima Samar has dedicated her life to public service, humanitarian work and women’s empowerment. Since 2002 -2019 she has been the Chairperson of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) which holds human rights violators accountable and sets the human rights agenda in Afghanistan. Alongside this, Dr. Samar is the Chairperson of the Commission for the Prevention of Torture and was the Chairperson of Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF) for short period.

Prior to her appointment as the chair of AIHRC, she was the Vice President of the Interim Administration of Afghanistan and the first Minister of Women’s Affairs for six months. Dr. Samar served as the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan between 2005 and 2009 and in 2019 has been appointed as a member of the United Nation’s Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation. Samar also served as member of High Level Panel for Internal Displacement, 2020 –September 2021.

Freshta Masoni has a rich background in Islamic Law, criminal law, and criminology. She earned her undergraduate degree from Kabul University and her master’s in criminal law and criminology from Azad Islamic University of Iran in Kabul. She served as a judge in Kabul's Family Court 2013 - 2021, handled complex family cases and worked as a prosecutor protecting children's rights.

Zamila Sanger was born and raised in Kabul city and completed her master’s degree in the field of criminal law and criminology. Her impressive career in the judicial system, spanning over 14 years, showcases her commitment to upholding justice and advocating for the rights of women and vulnerable individuals. 

She worked as head of the Violence Against Women and Juvenile violations at the Court of Appeal, she also served as a judge at the Public Security Appeal Court, Primary Criminal Court and the Traffic Accident Crimes Court of Kabul Province, Afghanistan. Alongside other Afghan women judges, she worked to ensure justice and defend women who were victims of violence. The court handled cases related to honour killings, rape, injuries, domestic violence, insults, slander, forced marriage, and womens deprivation of education. After the Taliban take-over of Afghanistan in August 2021, she migrated to Canada. Recently she has been appointed as a research associate at the Allard Law School at UBC.

Bibi Wahida Rahimi is an international Human rights Lawyer, previously she was a Judge of the Primary Court, Hearing Violence Against Women and Juvenile Delinquencies in Afghanistan, where she worked on different cases of violence against women, gender-based violence and juvenile delinquency.  Since the Taliban's takeover, Wahida left Afghanistan,  and moved to Canada and started working as a Research Associate at the University of British Columbia Peter Allard School of Law, where she undertook research projects on the issues relating to women and the law in Afghanistan. Right now, Wahida is a visiting scholar at the Peter Allard law School, working on a comparative study of domestic violence in Afghanistan and Canada.