UN rapporteur tells VOA rights situation is worsening in Afghanistan

Detailed summary

A United Nations official told VOA the human rights situation in Afghanistan is getting worse, as a prestigious international affairs institute recognized Afghan women for their resistance to Taliban restrictions.

Editor's note: this story was translated from the original VOA Pashto article.

A United Nations official told VOA the human rights situation in Afghanistan is getting worse, as a prestigious international affairs institute recognized Afghan women for their resistance to Taliban restrictions.

The Chatham House formally recognized the women of Afghanistan on Monday, awarding them its annual prize, in recognition of their "courage, resilience and determination in the face of systematic gender persecution."

At the same time, speaking to VOA on Tuesday, Richard Bennett, U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan warned the human rights situation in the country “is gradually and step by step getting worse, not only for girls and women, ... but also for the whole community.”

According to a Human Rights Watch report released in August, in the last five years that the Taliban have been in power in Afghanistan, the group has imposed ‘draconian’ policies that have made Afghanistan one of the world’s “gravest human rights crises, particularly for women and girls.”

Under the Taliban in Afghanistan, women are barred from working with government and non-government organizations, attending secondary schools and universities, and traveling long distances without a close male relative.

Bennett said the Taliban imposed more than 200 decrees and edicts primarily restricting human rights, including more than 100 targeting women and girls.

The U.N. special rapporteur on Afghanistan told VOA there are pressures “on freedom of expression, including for the media and public and civic space and special pressure on religious and ethnic and linguistic marginalized communities who are discriminated against, not allowed to practice their traditional religions and cultural practices.”

Bennett was appointed in 2022 to monitor the human rights situation in Afghanistan. However, he has been denied entry to Afghanistan since 2024, as a Taliban spokesperson accused him of a lack…

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