By Shatha Alaqaileh / GICJ

On 12 September 2022, the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, Mr Richard Bennett was held. He started by extending his gratitude to the Human Rights Council for allowing him to assess the situation in Afghanistan and assured the committee that the implementation of his recommendations will yield improvements.

He highlighted that although the mandate was established a year ago in 2021, the situation of human rights violations in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate. Such abuses encompass arbitrary detention, forced disappearances, collective punishment, minority rights violations and even torture. Additionally, the crisis is coupled with food insecurity, hunger, forced labour and marriage. Thus, security in Afghanistan is worsening and a lack of protection for civilians has an impact on children.

In adherence to International Humanitarian Law as well as Human Rights Law, the Special Rapporteur asked for an investigation to assess the human rights abuses suffered by the Afghani people. 

Geneva International Center for Justice (GICJ) urges immediate action to stop said violations and asks for mechanisms to educate the Afghani population about their rights and raise awareness on the same. Lastly, we urge States to consider the formation of an investigative mechanism.

We will be publishing a full discussion report on this discussion, stay tuned!

Afghanistan, Human Rights, Violations, Interactive Dialogue, HRC 51, GICJ, Geneva4justuce, Geneva International Center for Justice