KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban has barred Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan, from entering the country, accusing him of “spreading propaganda.”
In a recent interview with Deutsche Welle (DW), Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid accused Mr. Bennett of providing the UN and international community with “inaccurate and misleading” information about Afghanistan.
“Mr. Bennett’s travel to Afghanistan has been prohibited because he was assigned to spread propaganda in Afghanistan,” Mujahid said.
“He is not someone we trust. He is not in Afghanistan, and he is no longer permitted to come here. He took small issues and exaggerated them for propaganda,” he added.
The UN and Mr. Bennett have not yet commented on the development.
Appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council in April 2022 as the special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, Bennett has been highly critical of Taliban policies, particularly those impacting women’s right.
Since his appointment, Mr. Bennett has undertaken three missions to Afghanistan, during which he traveled to Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif, Kandahar, Bamyan, and Panjshir Provinces, and met with senior Taliban authorities and activists.
In every report and briefing to the UN Human Rights Council, he has highlighted the Taliban’s ongoing human rights violations and crimes, urging the UN and international community to intensify pressure on the regime and refrain from legitimizing their government.
In his recent report presented to the council on June 18, Mr. Bennett characterized the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls as a “crime against humanity” and called on the international community to recognize the “gender apartheid” in Afghanistan.
He recommended that Member States adopt the notion of gender apartheid and push for its formal recognition, citing Afghan women who believe this term most accurately reflects their situation.
Last week, as the Taliban marked the third anniversary of their return to power in Afghanistan, Bennett joined 29 other UN experts in urging the international community not to “normalize the de facto authorities or their appalling human rights violations.”
They expressed support for bringing a case against Taliban-controlled Afghanistan to the International Court of Justice, arguing that the Taliban’s deliberate and systematic oppression of women constitutes crimes against humanity, including gender persecution.
During the three years of Taliban rule, Afghanistan has become one of the most oppressive countries for women and girls. The regime has severely restricted their movements, denying them access to education, employment, social mobility, and other fundamental freedoms.
Since the Taliban’s return to power on August 15, 2021, they have issued over 80 edicts, directives, and statements specifically targeting and restricting the rights of women and girls.
Rights groups and activists also argue that the Taliban’s oppression of women and girls amounts to a system of apartheid, deliberately designed to subjugate them based solely on their gender.
