VANCOUVER, CANADA – Richard Bennett, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, warns that the violation of women’s and girls’ rights has solidified as a core policy under the Taliban, mirroring their rule in the 1990s.
In a video message released yesterday, May 1, marking his second anniversary in the role, Mr. Bennett said, “Even basic freedoms are trampled upon, peaceful dissent is stifled.” The UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan emphasized that human rights violations continue with impunity and no accountability.
He further highlighted the Taliban’s use of violence to control and instill fear in the population, citing documented cases of public executions and corporal punishments. “Violence is used to control and instill fear,” Bennett stated.
Referring to the dire economic situation, Mr. Bennett expressed concern that desperate Afghans are resorting to child marriage to repay debts or provide food for other children. He urged the Taliban to meet international human rights obligations and called on the international community to insist on significant improvements.
Previously, the UN Special Rapporteur had criticized the Taliban for restrictions on women’s work and education, calling them “a crime against humanity” and potentially amounting to gender apartheid.
The Taliban dismissed Mr. Bennett’s remarks, calling them “unreasonable.” Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, in an interview with Tolonews, stated that Bennett has a personal problem with the Taliban and the Afghan people. He downplayed the criticism, saying, “Of course, he has expressed his own problems, which we do not attach importance to.”
Zabiullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Taliban in an interview with Tolonews, said that Richard Bennett has a problem with the Taliban’s current regime and the people of Afghanistan, and his remarks indicate his own problems.
