UN Rapporteur Urges Recognition of Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan

UN special rapporteur Richard Bennett called for global backing to recognize gender apartheid in Afghanistan as a crime under international law.

Richard Bennett, the UN Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur for Afghanistan, on Wednesday urged the international community to support formal recognition of gender apartheid in the country.

Bennett referred to a call by UN experts to recognize gender apartheid within a proposed Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity, stressing the need for legal accountability.

The United Nations is currently holding meetings to draft the new convention, which aims to strengthen international mechanisms to prevent and punish crimes against humanity.

UN experts said meaningful participation by Afghan women and gender justice activists must be guaranteed in upcoming negotiations on the treaty, warning that exclusion would undermine its credibility.

They emphasized that the voices of Afghan women are not merely testimonial, but a primary and reliable source for documenting ongoing repression and crimes.

Gender-based restrictions imposed in Afghanistan have drawn widespread international criticism, with women barred from education, employment, and public life under sweeping decrees.

Human rights groups say these policies amount to systematic discrimination that meets the threshold of gender apartheid under international legal definitions.

Nasir Ahmad Faiq, Afghanistan’s acting permanent representative to the United Nations, also urged recognition of gender apartheid during the UN meeting, aligning Kabul’s UN mission with the experts’ call.

Analysts say formal recognition could increase pressure for accountability and pave the way for stronger legal action against those responsible for widespread rights violations.

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