Rina Amiri Calls for Strong International Support for the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan

In a message posted on X last night (October 11), Amiri welcomed the recent UN Human Rights Council resolution on Afghanistan. She also thanked Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, for his continued efforts to support the rights of all Afghans, especially women, girls, and other vulnerable communities.

Amiri said that Bennett's report for the 58th session of the Human Rights Council is an important step in detailing the devastating impact of Taliban laws, particularly the law on the promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice, which aims to eliminate the autonomy of Afghan women and girls and destroy the small space they have tried to create for themselves.

She emphasized, "The international community must remain steadfast in its strong support for the Special Rapporteur and a comprehensive approach to increase accountability. This is a normative and strategic and key matter for a stable, economic and secure Afghanistan."

Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Council, by adopting a resolution without a vote, has extended the mandate of Richard Bennett as Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan for another year. The Council has requested Bennett to prepare a report on the human rights situation in Afghanistan for the 58th session of the Human Rights Council.

The Council has also mandated Bennett, with the support of other UN special missions, to prepare a report on access to justice and protection of Afghan women and girls and the impact of multiple discrimination on them for the 59th session of the Human Rights Council, with a view to strengthening an enhanced interactive dialogue on this issue.

The UN Human Rights Council has condemned the Taliban's ban on Bennett's entry into Afghanistan and called on the group to lift this decision and cooperate with the UN human rights mechanisms.

In late August of this year, the Taliban banned Richard Bennett's entry into Afghanistan and accused him of propagating against the group. Bennett called this Taliban decision "a step backward" and stressed that he would continue to document human rights abuses in Afghanistan.

In the resolution adopted on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, the UN Human Rights Council has also called for the repeal of the Taliban's law on the promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice. The Council said that this law institutionalizes discrimination against women and called on the Taliban to repeal policies that prevent Afghan citizens from enjoying their human rights.