UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan Richard Bennett said on Thursday that the People’s Tribunal’s ruling on abuses against Afghan women, though not legally binding, amounted to a “powerful vindication” for victims living under Taliban rule and a clear signal that the world “sees what they have endured.”
Speaking at the tribunal’s judgment session in The Hague, Bennett said the findings confirmed that responsibility for rights violations “lies squarely with the perpetrators, not with the victims,” and urged states to take the recommendations seriously.
“The ruling highlights and affirms what women and girls in Afghanistan have long known,” he said. “They are living under a deliberate, institutionalised system of gender discrimination, oppression and domination that affects almost every aspect of their lives.”
Bennett said Taliban policies denying women and girls education, employment, freedom of movement, expression and participation in public life amounted to inhuman acts and gender-based persecution. Judges also found that Afghanistan under Taliban rule meets the elements of an apartheid-like system based on gender, even though international law has not yet codified gender apartheid as a distinct crime.
He welcomed the tribunal’s call for UN member states to support efforts to codify gender apartheid in international law and to strengthen global accountability mechanisms. Survivors’ testimonies were central to the judgment, he said, describing them as “courageous,” and adding that their experiences matched what he hears regularly in his mandate.
Bennett warned the international community against attempts to normalise or legitimise the Taliban, saying such steps would “embolden” the authorities and entrench discrimination. “Choosing this path would constitute a profound moral failure,” he said.
He urged states to fully fund humanitarian operations in Afghanistan, maintain protections for Afghan refugees, and avoid returning people to a country where they risk persecution. Support for Afghan civil society, especially women-led organisations, should be treated as “a strategic investment,” he added.
Bennett said action was needed across several fronts to dismantle what he described as the Taliban’s institutionalised system of gender oppression. He called for Afghan women and girls to be included in all decision-making about the country’s future, saying their exclusion would “guarantee the failure” of any political process.
“Today’s ruling is an important step, but it is only a step,” he said. “Justice for Afghan people will require persistent solidarity, unwavering commitment, and further opportunities for survivors and witnesses to have their voices heard.”
