The United Nations special rapporteur on Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, reiterated in his latest report his call for states to establish a comprehensive mechanism to advance accountability in Afghanistan for grave past and ongoing rights abuses, particularly against women and girls.
Bennett documents the many forms of discrimination that women and girls in Afghanistan face and their difficulty accessing justice and protection. He also notes how the “justice” system itself is being used to oppress and silence women and girls, rather than protect them.
Among his recommendations for advancing justice, Bennett calls upon states to establish an independent accountability mechanism with a comprehensive mandate to collect and preserve evidence of grave abuses and international crimes, including gender persecution, and prepare case files to support prosecutions of those responsible.
A dedicated accountability mechanism could be a key tool in addressing the impunity that has emboldened the Taliban’s oppression of women and girls and wider rights crackdown. It could support access to justice including through ongoing and future efforts at the International Criminal Court, the initiative under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women at the International Court of Justice, and through universal or other forms of jurisdiction to hold perpetrators of abuses to account.
While justice for gender crimes should be a priority for an Afghanistan accountability mechanism, Bennett aligns with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, a cross-regional group of countries, and a coalition of Afghan and international rights groups in insisting that any such mechanism should have a comprehensive mandate, able to address both past and ongoing rights abuses in Afghanistan. As the coalition notes, genuine justice for victims of rights abuses should not be undermined by double standards or cherry-picking in investigations and prosecutions.
Given the growing consensus on the need for an Afghanistan accountability mechanism, there is hope that the European Union will move to propose such a mechanism when it presents its annual resolution on Afghanistan in September. When the UN Human Rights Council meets to discuss the report next week, states from all regional groups should express their support.