UN Special Rapporteur's Proposals to Combat Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan

The UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, emphasising on gender apartheid in Afghanistan, said that the systematic and institutionalised discrimination in this country and the exclusion of women should shake the conscience of humanity.

Richard Bennett, UN Special Rapporteur, will present his proposals to combat gender apartheid in Afghanistan at the Human Rights Council meeting today.

Bennett recently published his latest report on Afghanistan and is set to present its details on Tuesday at the 56th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

In this report, he called on the international community to refrain from legitimising and normalising relations with the Taliban until there is tangible commitment from the group to human rights and women's rights.

He focused on gender apartheid in Afghanistan and the Taliban's policies against women in his report.

Bennett warned that indifference to the widespread and systematic human rights violations in Afghanistan will have highly destructive consequences, even for future generations in Afghanistan and the world. According to him, previous achievements in women's rights and human rights in Afghanistan have been lost.

Given the international community's commitments to the Human Rights Convention, Bennett has called for coordinated action against the oppressive system in Afghanistan, stating that the Taliban have committed fundamental crimes, including crimes against humanity and gender persecution.

The Special Rapporteur stated that gender apartheid as a crime against humanity is the "most accurate description of the institutionalised oppression" of women in Afghanistan. He again urged the international community to recognise gender apartheid as a crime against humanity.

Richard Bennett called on the international community to provide legal, political, and diplomatic support for the campaign of Afghan activists to recognise gender apartheid. Amnesty International also, for the first time yesterday, called for the recognition of gender apartheid as a crime.

The UN Special Rapporteur emphasised that the international community must practically empathise with Afghan women and combat institutionalised and systematic repression.

He urged the Taliban to abandon discriminatory and restrictive directives that deprive women of their basic rights and to provide equal access to education for girls at all levels.

Bennett also called for the removal of travel restrictions on women, including travel without a Mahram (male guardian), and stated that the ruling regime must allow women to return to work, including in international aid organisations.

He demanded effective measures to prevent child abuse, especially early and forced marriage, sexual violence, exploitation, and trafficking, and said that the ruling regime must guarantee women's access to healthcare services, especially mental and physical health services.

Bennett emphasised on the social diversity of Afghanistan and said that the Taliban must ensure the security of ethnic, religious, and gender minorities and bring those responsible for violence to justice.

He also called on the world to support referring the case of Afghanistan to the International Criminal Court and ensure that the court has sufficient evidence and information about the systematic human rights violations and gender apartheid in Afghanistan.