Sayed Mahdi Hussaini
Bayan News – Coinciding with the upcoming third Doha conference, Rina Amiri, the U.S. Special Representative for Afghan Women, Girls, and Human Rights, and Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, have commented on the exclusion of women from the Doha conference, the worsening human rights situation, and the ban on girls’ education.
Rina Amiri, on the occasion of International Women’s Diplomacy Day, wrote on the X platform that without the participation of women in discussions about Afghanistan’s future, there will be no solution to the challenges facing the country. Amiri added: “There is no solution to the challenges of peace, security, and sustainability in Afghanistan without [the participation of] Afghan women in discussions about the future of this country.”
Similarly, Richard Bennett, referring to the Taliban’s restrictions on women, stated that the United Nations should have confronted these decrees.
Bennett made these remarks yesterday (June 25) in a roundtable discussion organized by a Norwegian think tank, where he said that the human rights situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating day by day.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights specifically mentioned the ban on girls’ education, the prohibition of women’s employment, and the Taliban’s public punishments.
According to Bennett, the Taliban is enforcing its preferred dress code, which specifically targets Afghan women and girls.
Furthermore, he also expressed that the Taliban has continued to increase public punishments, which is contrary to human rights values.
Bennett further clarified that Afghanistan is currently the only country in the world where girls are prohibited from attending schools and universities, and at the same time, the employment of women in government offices is also prohibited.
Stating that women employees in the UN system are also subject to these restrictions, Mr. Bennett noted that these Taliban limitations violate the UN charter.
These statements come at a time when the third Doha conference, hosted by the United Nations, is set to take place in less than a week.
The United Nations has not invited representatives of women and civil society activists to this conference.
