KABUL: Human Rights Watch reports that Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, has once again called for the establishment of a comprehensive and independent mechanism to address widespread human rights violations in Afghanistan.
According to Bennett, Afghan women and girls face deep discrimination, deprivation of basic rights, and a lack of access to justice. He emphasized that instead of supporting the judicial system for women, it has become a tool for silencing them.
Bennett proposed that countries should create an international body tasked with collecting, preserving, and documenting evidence of human rights violations and international crimes, particularly cases of sexual violence.
This body could support ongoing efforts at the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, and universal jurisdiction initiatives to prosecute perpetrators of human rights violations.
Human Rights Watch added that this mechanism should be designed to include all instances of human rights violations in both past and present Afghanistan, preventing selective enforcement of justice.
Reports indicate that a global consensus to establish such a body is forming. The European Union is expected to formally propose this mechanism during its annual resolution on Afghanistan in September.
The UN Human Rights Council will also review Richard Bennett’s report next week.
