Afghanistan: Comprehensive efforts needed to stop destructive cycle of impunity, says UN expert

GENEVA (9 September 2024) – Observing an ever-increasing number of restrictions for women and girls, concerns around the situation of minorities and children, a shrinking civic space and a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, a UN independent expert said today that all tools should be used to stop the long and destructive cycle of impunity.

The latest Taliban morality law marks a new phase in the ongoing regression in the respect for human rights, said Richard Bennett, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan.

“This law reinforces the Taliban’s institutionalised system of sex and gender discrimination, segregation, and oppression – in short, gender persecution, a crime against humanity - and impacts almost the entire population. Unaddressed, the repercussions will shape future generations,” Bennett said during his Oral Update at the Human Rights Council.

Bennett also updated the Council about the concerning situation of minorities, children, LGBTI people, human rights defenders, and journalists, as well as older people, and people with disabilities who are also affected by a worsening humanitarian crisis.

He said he has observed a marked change in the rhetoric and actions of the Taliban.

“Having reached the crossroads, the Taliban appear to have taken a direction that only leads back to the appalling conditions of the late 1990s. Collectively, we must persuade them to reverse and take the other direction,” the Special Rapporteur said.

He noted that human rights have been violated for more than four decades in Afghanistan and urged Member States to identify survivor-centred and gender-responsive pathways to justice in addition to strengthening existing mechanisms so that the situation in the country receives a response that is proportionate to its gravity. Such a comprehensive approach echoes his previous calls for an all tools approach.

“Regrettably, impunity has prevailed in Afghanistan for generations. It is among the causes of conflict and repression in the country. Failure to effectively tackle the cycle of impunity only emboldens the Taliban’s oppressive regime and reduces the possibility of genuine and durable peace in Afghanistan and beyond,” the expert said.

He urged the international community to include women and non-Taliban Afghans in any process about the future of the country and to place human rights at the centre.