KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Nearly 100 human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have called on the UN Human Rights Council to extend the mandate of its Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, which is due to expire.
In a joint statement during the council’s ongoing 63rd session, the groups also urged the UN to ensure the rapporteur has the resources needed to carry out the mandate effectively, including for engagement on individual cases and country visits or equivalent access.
The organizations further urged continued dedicated reporting on the situation of women and girls, along with an enhanced interactive dialogue that would allow Afghan women to participate directly in discussions about their rights.
They called for an additional report focused on ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and other marginalized communities, followed by a dedicated interactive dialogue on their situation. The groups also demanded the swift operationalization of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Afghanistan, established by Human Rights Council resolution 60/2, which was adopted by consensus in October 2025.
“Five years since the Taliban’s return to power, the human rights situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate rather than stabilize,” the organizations said in their statement. “The de facto authorities have entrenched their rule through an ever-expanding architecture of decrees, directives and formal codes that strips away fundamental freedoms and institutionalizes impunity.”
They noted that ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and other marginalized communities continue to face discrimination and targeted violence, citing Hazaras and Ismaili Shiites as well as people with disabilities and LGBTQI+ individuals.
“As grave human rights violations remain pervasive in Afghanistan, amid a context of extreme repression, gender persecution, and a situation the Special Rapporteur has described as ‘gender apartheid,’ continued scrutiny and engagement by the Human Rights Council remains essential,” the groups added.
Bennett, a New Zealand national, was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council on April 1, 2022, and formally began his mandate on May 1 that year. He previously served as chief of the Human Rights Service with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. As an independent expert, he monitors the human rights situation, gathers information, engages with people inside and outside the country, and reports regularly to the council. The special rapporteur mandate was established in 2021 and has been renewed several times since.
The Taliban barred Bennett from entering Afghanistan in 2024, accusing him of spreading “propaganda” and providing “inaccurate” information to the UN and the international community. Despite the ban, he has continued his work by gathering information through online communications and engagement with Afghans inside the country and diaspora communities worldwide. He has regularly presented reports and briefed the council, most recently two weeks ago.
Bennett has been highly critical of Taliban policies, particularly those affecting women and girls. In his reports and briefings, he has described the abuses as “crimes against humanity” and characterized the overall situation for women as “gender apartheid.”
The human rights situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated significantly since the Taliban takeover in August 2021. The regime has imposed sweeping restrictions on women and girls, including bans on secondary education and university studies, as well as most forms of employment outside the home. The UN and other international organizations says that the restrictions carry significant economic and political implications for Afghanistan, a country already facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, while also levying a heavy toll on women’s mental health.
