UN Rights Envoy Warns Against Normalizing Injustice in Afghanistan

Richard Bennett, the UN Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur on the situation in Afghanistan, has stressed that the international community must not remain silent in the face of widespread human rights violations in the country. In a message posted Wednesday, December 9, to mark Human Rights Day, Bennett emphasized that human rights are a core foundation of the United Nations Charter and are intended to prevent the imposition of injustice in countries like Afghanistan.

He warned that normalizing injustice would be a severe blow to universal values and human principles, stating, “Human rights are universal and non-negotiable, and they must be defended sustainably.”

Human Rights Day is observed annually on December 10, commemorating the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. This year’s observance comes as the Taliban administration—now in power for over four years— continues to face widespread domestic and international criticism for restricting basic freedoms and rights, particularly those of women.

Under the Taliban, girls have been banned from attending schools and universities, and women are systematically excluded from government institutions and social activities. Human rights experts have described these actions as clear violations of international commitments and indicative of entrenched structural injustice in the country.