We, a coalition of civil society organizations, legal advocacy groups, and women's protest movements from Afghanistan, hereby submit this formal request for legal proceedings against Ms. Cheryl Benard. Based on principles of international law, extensive media documentation, and official reports, we accuse Ms. Benard of complicity in crimes against humanity by whitewashing the Taliban regime, denying structural violence against women, and misleading the international public.
Ms. Benard’s involvement goes beyond her role as a political commentator or researcher. Her statements must be viewed in the context of her close association with her husband, Zalmay Khalilzad—one of the chief architects of the Doha Agreement with the Taliban, who played a central role in legitimizing this group on the international stage. Mr. Khalilzad has also been instrumental in enabling diplomatic and financial support for the Taliban through regional networks. Hence, Ms. Benard’s normalization of the Taliban is not independent, but rather a component of a coordinated, self-serving political and familial agenda.
Documented and Prosecutable Statements by Ms. Cheryl Benard:
In multiple articles and interviews, including one published in The National Interest (2024), Ms. Benard:
• Denied the existence of gender apartheid in Afghanistan, claiming women “freely walk in the streets,” “work,” and face “no pressure from the Taliban”;
• Described Afghanistan as “safe and suitable” for returnees, writing:
“The Taliban may have their own ideology, but they have brought order. Return is not only possible, but desirable.”
• Downplayed media reports on the oppression of women and framed the Taliban’s exclusion of women from public life as overblown.
These statements stand in stark contrast with verified reports from international bodies and firsthand testimonies from Afghan women. For instance:
• Richard Bennett, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan, has repeatedly reported to the UN Human Rights Council (June 2022, March 2023, March 2024) that the Taliban are executing a coordinated and systemic pattern of gender apartheid, constituting crimes against humanity;
• His reports state:
“The Taliban's treatment of women constitutes targeted, organized repression. Banning them from public life, education, employment, mobility, and subjecting them to extrajudicial punishment strips them of all humanity.”
• The Taliban have issued over 100 formal decrees restricting women’s clothing, employment, education, travel, access to health, and presence in media—constructing a legal and social framework for gender apartheid;
• Reports from UNAMA, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International have documented hundreds of cases of arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances, and threats against protesting women, female employees, and civil society activists;
• Beyond institutional data, direct testimonies from victims, refugees, and activists—collected in dozens of reports, statements, and petitions—confirm these systematic abuses.
These evidences are not only backed by international agencies but are rooted in the living voices of 18 million Afghan women, who are subjected to a regime of gender apartheid and systemic erasure.
Legal Basis for the Accusation:
Under Article 25(3)(c) of the Rome Statute, any individual who knowingly aids, abets, or otherwise assists in the commission of a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court is considered a co-perpetrator.
Further, under Article 7, the Taliban’s actions against women—including their systematic exclusion from social, educational, and economic life, travel bans, and detention for “improper dress”—clearly constitute crimes against humanity and gender apartheid.
By denying these crimes, whitewashing the Taliban’s image, distorting international evidence and victim testimonies, and legitimizing return to a tyrannical regime, Ms. Benard stands as an indirect accomplice to these crimes. According to international legal principles of complicity, enabling impunity, and collusion in whitewashing, she must be held accountable.
We Specifically Demand:
1. The initiation of a formal investigation by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) into Cheryl Benard’s role in facilitating the whitewashing of the Taliban and undermining women’s rights;
2. The suspension of her affiliations with Western research institutions and media platforms that have enabled the dissemination of such narratives;
3. Support for legal action by Afghan women survivors and refugees against individuals who have actively contributed to the systemic violation of their rights;
4. The convening of an international tribunal or symbolic public hearing focusing on the role of Western political and media elites in whitewashing human rights–abusing regimes, with a focus on Afghanistan and the lived experiences of Afghan women.
We affirm:
To distort truth is a subtle but potent form of violence. Those who silence the voices of victims while beautifying the face of perpetrators are complicit in oppression.
With respect,
A Collective of Afghan Civil Society Institutions, Women’s Movements, and Human Rights Defenders
Subject: Request for Legal Action Against Cheryl Benard, Wife of Zalmay Khalilzad, for Complicity in Crimes Against Humanity and Whitewashing the Taliban Regime
To:
The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court,
Relevant UN Human Rights Bodies,
The European Union,
The United States Government,
Global Media Outlets, and
The International Public
We, a coalition of civil society organizations, legal advocacy groups, and women's protest movements from Afghanistan, hereby submit this formal request for legal proceedings against Ms. Cheryl Benard. Based on principles of international law, extensive media documentation, and official reports, we accuse Ms. Benard of complicity in crimes against humanity by whitewashing the Taliban regime, denying structural violence against women, and misleading the international public.
Ms. Benard’s involvement goes beyond her role as a political commentator or researcher. Her statements must be viewed in the context of her close association with her husband, Zalmay Khalilzad—one of the chief architects of the Doha Agreement with the Taliban, who played a central role in legitimizing this group on the international stage. Mr. Khalilzad has also been instrumental in enabling diplomatic and financial support for the Taliban through regional networks. Hence, Ms. Benard’s normalization of the Taliban is not independent, but rather a component of a coordinated, self-serving political and familial agenda.
Documented and Prosecutable Statements by Ms. Cheryl Benard:
In multiple articles and interviews, including one published in The National Interest (2024), Ms. Benard:
• Denied the existence of gender apartheid in Afghanistan, claiming women “freely walk in the streets,” “work,” and face “no pressure from the Taliban”;
• Described Afghanistan as “safe and suitable” for returnees, writing:
“The Taliban may have their own ideology, but they have brought order. Return is not only possible, but desirable.”
• Downplayed media reports on the oppression of women and framed the Taliban’s exclusion of women from public life as overblown.
These statements stand in stark contrast with verified reports from international bodies and firsthand testimonies from Afghan women. For instance:
• Richard Bennett, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan, has repeatedly reported to the UN Human Rights Council (June 2022, March 2023, March 2024) that the Taliban are executing a coordinated and systemic pattern of gender apartheid, constituting crimes against humanity;
• His reports state:
“The Taliban's treatment of women constitutes targeted, organized repression. Banning them from public life, education, employment, mobility, and subjecting them to extrajudicial punishment strips them of all humanity.”
• The Taliban have issued over 100 formal decrees restricting women’s clothing, employment, education, travel, access to health, and presence in media—constructing a legal and social framework for gender apartheid;
• Reports from UNAMA, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International have documented hundreds of cases of arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances, and threats against protesting women, female employees, and civil society activists;
• Beyond institutional data, direct testimonies from victims, refugees, and activists—collected in dozens of reports, statements, and petitions—confirm these systematic abuses.
These evidences are not only backed by international agencies but are rooted in the living voices of 18 million Afghan women, who are subjected to a regime of gender apartheid and systemic erasure.
Legal Basis for the Accusation:
Under Article 25(3)(c) of the Rome Statute, any individual who knowingly aids, abets, or otherwise assists in the commission of a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court is considered a co-perpetrator.
Further, under Article 7, the Taliban’s actions against women—including their systematic exclusion from social, educational, and economic life, travel bans, and detention for “improper dress”—clearly constitute crimes against humanity and gender apartheid.
By denying these crimes, whitewashing the Taliban’s image, distorting international evidence and victim testimonies, and legitimizing return to a tyrannical regime, Ms. Benard stands as an indirect accomplice to these crimes. According to international legal principles of complicity, enabling impunity, and collusion in whitewashing, she must be held accountable.
We Specifically Demand:
1. The initiation of a formal investigation by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) into Cheryl Benard’s role in facilitating the whitewashing of the Taliban and undermining women’s rights;
2. The suspension of her affiliations with Western research institutions and media platforms that have enabled the dissemination of such narratives;
3. Support for legal action by Afghan women survivors and refugees against individuals who have actively contributed to the systemic violation of their rights;
4. The convening of an international tribunal or symbolic public hearing focusing on the role of Western political and media elites in whitewashing human rights–abusing regimes, with a focus on Afghanistan and the lived experiences of Afghan women.
We affirm:
To distort truth is a subtle but potent form of violence. Those who silence the voices of victims while beautifying the face of perpetrators are complicit in oppression.
With respect,
A Collective of Afghan Civil Society Institutions, Women’s Movements, and Human Rights Defenders
We, a coalition of civil society organizations, legal advocacy groups, and women's protest movements from Afghanistan, hereby submit this formal request for legal proceedings against Ms. Cheryl Benard. Based on principles of international law, extensive media documentation, and official reports, we accuse Ms. Benard of complicity in crimes against humanity by whitewashing the Taliban regime, denying structural violence against women, and misleading the international public.
Ms. Benard’s involvement goes beyond her role as a political commentator or researcher. Her statements must be viewed in the context of her close association with her husband, Zalmay Khalilzad—one of the chief architects of the Doha Agreement with the Taliban, who played a central role in legitimizing this group on the international stage. Mr. Khalilzad has also been instrumental in enabling diplomatic and financial support for the Taliban through regional networks. Hence, Ms. Benard’s normalization of the Taliban is not independent, but rather a component of a coordinated, self-serving political and familial agenda.
Documented and Prosecutable Statements by Ms. Cheryl Benard:
In multiple articles and interviews, including one published in The National Interest (2024), Ms. Benard:
• Denied the existence of gender apartheid in Afghanistan, claiming women “freely walk in the streets,” “work,” and face “no pressure from the Taliban”;
• Described Afghanistan as “safe and suitable” for returnees, writing:
“The Taliban may have their own ideology, but they have brought order. Return is not only possible, but desirable.”
• Downplayed media reports on the oppression of women and framed the Taliban’s exclusion of women from public life as overblown.
These statements stand in stark contrast with verified reports from international bodies and firsthand testimonies from Afghan women. For instance:
• Richard Bennett, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan, has repeatedly reported to the UN Human Rights Council (June 2022, March 2023, March 2024) that the Taliban are executing a coordinated and systemic pattern of gender apartheid, constituting crimes against humanity;
• His reports state:
“The Taliban's treatment of women constitutes targeted, organized repression. Banning them from public life, education, employment, mobility, and subjecting them to extrajudicial punishment strips them of all humanity.”
• The Taliban have issued over 100 formal decrees restricting women’s clothing, employment, education, travel, access to health, and presence in media—constructing a legal and social framework for gender apartheid;
• Reports from UNAMA, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International have documented hundreds of cases of arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances, and threats against protesting women, female employees, and civil society activists;
• Beyond institutional data, direct testimonies from victims, refugees, and activists—collected in dozens of reports, statements, and petitions—confirm these systematic abuses.
These evidences are not only backed by international agencies but are rooted in the living voices of 18 million Afghan women, who are subjected to a regime of gender apartheid and systemic erasure.
Legal Basis for the Accusation:
Under Article 25(3)(c) of the Rome Statute, any individual who knowingly aids, abets, or otherwise assists in the commission of a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court is considered a co-perpetrator.
Further, under Article 7, the Taliban’s actions against women—including their systematic exclusion from social, educational, and economic life, travel bans, and detention for “improper dress”—clearly constitute crimes against humanity and gender apartheid.
By denying these crimes, whitewashing the Taliban’s image, distorting international evidence and victim testimonies, and legitimizing return to a tyrannical regime, Ms. Benard stands as an indirect accomplice to these crimes. According to international legal principles of complicity, enabling impunity, and collusion in whitewashing, she must be held accountable.
We Specifically Demand:
1. The initiation of a formal investigation by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) into Cheryl Benard’s role in facilitating the whitewashing of the Taliban and undermining women’s rights;
2. The suspension of her affiliations with Western research institutions and media platforms that have enabled the dissemination of such narratives;
3. Support for legal action by Afghan women survivors and refugees against individuals who have actively contributed to the systemic violation of their rights;
4. The convening of an international tribunal or symbolic public hearing focusing on the role of Western political and media elites in whitewashing human rights–abusing regimes, with a focus on Afghanistan and the lived experiences of Afghan women.
We affirm:
To distort truth is a subtle but potent form of violence. Those who silence the voices of victims while beautifying the face of perpetrators are complicit in oppression.
With respect,
A Collective of Afghan Civil Society Institutions, Women’s Movements, and Human Rights Defenders
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