UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Richard Bennett called on Canada to continue its efforts to improve the human rights situation in Afghanistan.

Bennett said that Canada should emphasise on its positions to improve human rights, especially women's rights, in order to normalise relations with the Taliban.

Richard Bennett, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights, is on a six-day visit to Canada to review the human rights crisis in Afghanistan.

He wrote in a note on the social media network X that during the trip, he met with a number of Afghan citizens, including refugees, activists, and journalists in Toronto and Ottawa.

"I heard from young women and ethnic minorities such as Hazaras, Uzbeks and Turkmens about the brutal treatment they face in the absence of a coherent international strategy to address the dire human rights situation in Afghanistan," said Bennett.

The United Nations also said in a statement that Bennett thanked the Canadian government for the important steps it has taken to hold the Taliban accountable to its international obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

According to the statement, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights thanked Canada for accepting 50,000 Afghans since August 2021 and emphasised on the continuation of this support.

Richard Bennett called on Canada to support at-risk Afghans seeking asylum. "I call on Canada to abide by its commitments to rescue programmes and to meet basic humanitarian needs, while ensuring that the principle of avoiding support for terrorist organisations is respected," he said.