RASC News Agency: Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan, has called for the international recognition of gender apartheid in Afghanistan as a crime against humanity. During the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council, held on Thursday, February 27, in Geneva, Bennett presented his 20-page report on Afghanistan, warning that conditions in the country are rapidly worsening, particularly for women, and called for urgent international intervention.Bennett stressed that the situation in Afghanistan, especially for women, continues to deteriorate with each passing day. He urged that the systematic repression of women under Taliban rule be addressed under international law.
He further noted that the Taliban have escalated their gender-apartheid policies, deepening the human rights crisis that has intensified since their return to power. Bennett emphasized that the Taliban’s enactment of the “Amr bil Ma’ruf wa Nahi anil Munkar” (Commanding Good and Forbidding Evil) law has cemented broad restrictions on freedom throughout Afghanistan. He underscored the importance of Afghanistani women’s equal participation in negotiations with the Taliban and called on the global community to ensure that victims of past atrocities are not overlooked.
The report also highlights the Taliban’s aggressive clampdown on the media and civil society, noting that journalists, activists, academics, and artists are subjected to arbitrary detention and abuse, while ethnic and religious minorities face continued discrimination and a lack of legal protections. Since the Taliban’s return to power over three years ago, they have implemented sweeping restrictions on Afghanistani women and girls, effectively barring them from education, work, and public participation. Women are now deprived of even their most basic rights, with schools and universities closed to female students and employment prohibited.
Previously, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada as a “staunch patriarch”, stating that he has systematically stripped Afghanistani women of their fundamental rights.
