Speaking at the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, the Afghan ambassador to the UN, Nasir Ahmad Andesha, warned that Afghanistan had turned into a “ground-zero for human rights and graveyard of international norms” under the Taliban.
At the session, the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, Richard Bennet, presented his second report on the state of human rights since his last report in December 2022.
Andesha said the international community were unaware of much of the Taliban’s violations of human rights, as “many violations are still going undocumented and many casualties are still overlooked”.
In his report, Richard Bennett said that the Taliban’s abuse of women’s rights may amount of crime against humanity. The Taliban’s human rights abuses, he said, were “intentional and calculated”.
“We strongly urge the council to answer to the unified call of fearless women rights activists, human rights organizations around the world to establish a robust independent investigative mechanism for Afghanistan,” the Afghan ambassador said.
Andesha maintained that rights activists, Afghan security forces, minorities and women continued to suffer on a daily basis under the Taliban rule.
