Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, has discussed restrictions on freedom of expression, pressure on women and girls, and the difficult situation facing Afghan journalists at a meeting with journalists in Canada.
On Thursday, November 12, Bennett met with a number of journalists and representatives of media organizations at Massey College in Toronto as part of his ongoing visit to Canada.
The meeting was organized at the initiative of the Centre for Freedom of Expression and focused on the human rights situation, media restrictions, and the denial of women’s and girls’ fundamental rights.
Participants expressed concern over the continued exclusion of girls from education and increasing restrictions on women, calling on the international community to take practical measures to hold the Taliban accountable.
They said that over the past five years, the international community’s response had largely been limited to issuing statements and condemning the Taliban’s policies, with little noticeable impact on the human rights situation in Afghanistan.
Another part of the meeting focused on media censorship, restrictions on access to information, the detention and intimidation of journalists, and pressure on independent media outlets.
Najib Aseel, head of the Centre for Freedom of Expression, presented a report on the situation of Afghanistan’s media and journalists and expressed concern over continued arrests, threats, and media restrictions.
He also raised concerns about the difficult circumstances facing Afghan journalists in Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey, and asked Bennett to engage with the French government and other European countries to support and resettle journalists at risk.
