KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The UN Human Rights Council has extended the mandate of its Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan for another year to continue monitoring and reporting on the country’s human rights situation.
In a resolution adopted on Monday, the council asked Richard Bennett, who has served in the role since April 2022, to submit a report at its 63rd session and provide an update at the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.
Mr. Bennett, in a post on X, thanked the council for extending his mandate and said he would continue monitoring and reporting on the human rights situation in Afghanistan and find ways to improve it.
The Taliban barred Bennett from entering Afghanistan last year, accusing him of spreading “propaganda” and providing “inaccurate” information to the UN and international community. He has been highly critical of Taliban policies, particularly those impacting women and girls. In all his reports and briefings to the UN, he highlighted the Taliban’s human rights abuses, which he described as “crimes against humanity” and “gender apartheid.”
Afghanistan’s human rights situation has deteriorated sharply since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. Women and girls remain banned from secondary and higher education, most jobs outside the home, and public places such as parks and gyms.
Alongside the extension of Bennett’s mandate, the council also approved the establishment of an independent mechanism to collect and preserve evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious abuses committed in Afghanistan, including under Taliban rule. The body will prepare case files for possible use in future national or international prosecutions.
Rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, along with activists and women’s rights defenders who have long called for such a mechanism, welcomed the decision as a significant step toward accountability and justice for victims of systematic abuses in Afghanistan.
“In the face of continued impunity in Afghanistan, the establishment of a UN-mandated evidence-gathering mechanism is a vital step towards advancing accountability for past and ongoing crimes,” said Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard in a statement.
She urged governments to ensure the new mechanism receives adequate resources and independence to operate effectively. “Establishing a mechanism is only the beginning. States owe it to the victims to ensure that justice is not delayed or denied,” she added.
