The Strategic Work of Human Rights in Afghanistan

Omar Sadr and Richard Bennett discuss human rights independent accountability mechanisms for Afghanistan.

Richard Bennett has served as UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan, documenting Taliban abuses, advocating for accountability, and keeping international attention on Afghanistan's human rights crisis.

But what does a Special Rapporteur actually do? How does documentation become justice? And how can ordinary people support this work?

In this conversation, Richard explains his mandate, reflects on four years of this difficult work, and discusses practical pathways to accountability—from the International Criminal Court to universal jurisdiction to people's tribunals. We talk about gender apartheid, cultural erasure, and what role diaspora communities and scholars can play.

This isn't another depressing litany of Taliban crimes. It's a conversation about how accountability mechanisms work, where leverage exists, and what strategic human rights advocacy looks like when regimes answer to no one.

Readings:

1. Latest UN Special Rapporteur Reports on Afghanistan
2. Gender Apartheid and Cultural Relativism under the Taliban and Iranian Regimes, Jadaliyya, 2023
3. The Need for a New Lexicon to Describe the Oppression of the Taliban System, Kroc Institute Policy Brief, 2025

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