 My name is Richard Bennett. I'm the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan. I'm here at USIP to participate in a roundtable with many groups who are undertaking documentation of the human rights situation in Afghanistan today. Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the human rights situation has deteriorated sharply and causes a great deal of concern. In particular, the situation for women and girls is dire, catastrophic. Their rights have been more or less wiped out. There are also other marginalized groups whose rights are causing concern, in particular minorities and children. We know as well in the area of civil and political rights that there are extrajudicial killings, there is arbitrary detention, torture and enforced disappearances. This is despite a so-called general amnesty announced by the Taliban soon after they took over. There are also many concerns about the lack of rule of law. On the economic, social and cultural rights, there is widespread poverty due to the humanitarian situation. There is a lack of education, there are problems with health services and as a whole, we have a lot of concern about the situation. Documentation is the first step. It's the grounding of all the rest of the work to bring those who are responsible to account. A culture of impunity that exists now needs to be tackled and changed and this begins with clear documentation and data. This can be used in future criminal accountability but in addition to that, there are many other forms of accountability. It can be used in advocacy to change the situation now. It could be used, for example, in asylum cases. It can be used in the longer term to claim reparations. This documentation needs to be victim or survivor-centered. The voices of the people of Afghanistan who are victims of human rights violations need to be recorded, they need to be heard. This is for accountability, it's for protection, it's for prevention and it's for history. My role is special rapporteur. That means I report to the United Nations and publicly on the human rights situation in Afghanistan. To do that accurately, I need good data. I have my own team but I'm also encouraged to work with partners who have high quality data. That is why we are discussing that here, to ensure that the best quality, the most verified authentic data is brought forth to assist with both accountability and with advocacy because policy makers throughout the world need accurate information on which to base their policies towards Afghanistan.