UN Reporter: Afghanistan faces serious human rights challenges
Bayan news
At the end of his mission, UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett stated that Afghanistan faces serious human rights challenges.
The UN Special Rapporteur on a ten-day visit to Kabul to review the human rights situation in Afghanistan met with members of civil society, especially women, human rights activists, journalists, representatives of ethnic minorities and victims of human rights abuses.
Bennett held a news conference at the end of her term on Thursday (June 5th), expressing concern over the human rights situation. He added that the Kabul-based government should pursue a path that provides stability and freedom for all Afghan people, especially women.
Bennett’s findings show that armed hostilities have ceased in many parts of Afghanistan and that casualties from the conflict have declined since the Taliban took control.
He called the Taliban’s general amnesty for former government officials and members of the former security forces the first step towards reconciliation; But he is also concerned about reports of retaliatory killings of former members of the security forces and searches of the homes of former government officials.
The UN rapporteur also expressed concern over the humanitarian and economic crisis in Afghanistan and called on the international community to continue to provide humanitarian assistance and to ensure its equitable distribution.
In part, he said, many of the Taliban’s policies and motives affect the broad spectrum of human rights in the past and create a society governed by fear.
Concerned about the situation of women in Afghanistan, Bennett said that measures such as the suspension of girls’ education, barriers to women’s employment, impossibility of their participation in political and public life, strict hijab and strict advice to stay at home to make women invisible in society. Is.
The UN rapporteur added that these guidelines were in conflict with Afghanistan’s obligations under several human rights treaties.
She called on the Taliban to immediately reverse policies and guidelines that negatively affect women, as well as to prioritize the rights of women and girls to equal participation in education, employment and other social aspects.
Bennett has called for an investigation into recent attacks on places of worship and schools in Kabul and the provinces of Kunduz and Balkh, which ISIL has claimed responsibility for.
He has said that such attacks, which specifically target members of the Hazara, Shiite and Sufi communities, are systematic in nature and show signs of crimes against humanity.
Bennett discriminates against journalists
However, some reporters say that the UN Special Rapporteur did not allow some journalists to enter.
Mohammad Fayyaz, a reporter, told AsiaTimes that he emailed a request for permission to enter the venue when he received the announcement of Richard Bennett’s press conference; But he has been told that personal emails are not acceptable and he must submit his application by e-mail.
Fayyaz added that about 10 of his fellow journalists in various media outlets had been forced to return to their offices behind the gates of Richard Bennett’s press conference.
Protesting reporters called the UN Special Rapporteur’s treatment double-edged, discriminatory and contrary to international norms.
