The State Department’s release of its annual Human Rights Report resulted in a startling moment as reporters gathered in the State Department’s press briefing room. All sorts of countries were discussed, and for good reason. In the case of Afghanistan, though, the story has been crushed altogether, and the world is turning a blind eye.

It’s not as if there’s no story. Today in Afghanistan, men and women are routinely tortured, murdered, and subject to forced disappearance. It’s all covered in the thick document painstakingly put together by American  government officials who receive data from non-governmental organizations, the United Nations, and other groups that operate in this perilous environment.