Afghanistan's first female Olympian calls for Games ban over Taliban's rights record

FILE PHOTO: Afghanistan's Nina Suratger holds Afghanistan's national flag during the opening ceremony of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. Afghanistan's Nina Suratger (2ndL) holds the Afghanistan national flag in front of members of the national team during the opening ceremony of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games August 13, 2004. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

GENEVA (Reuters) - Friba Rezayee, the first woman to represent Afghanistan at the Olympics, has been appalled by the treatment of women since the resurgence of the Taliban and is now campaigning for the country to be kept out of the Paris Games.

Rezayee, a judoka who competed at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, has called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban Afghanistan due to the Taliban's human rights record. She has argued that under a such ban, Afghan women should still be allowed to participate as part of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team.