Taliban Govt bans entry of UN Human Rights Rapporteur to Afghanistan

New Delhi, Aug 21: The Taliban government has officially banned Richard Bennett, the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan, from entering the country, according to Afghanistan’s Tolo News Agency.

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson for the Taliban government, stated that the travel ban on Bennett was imposed due to his alleged dissemination of propaganda against Afghanistan. Mujahid accused Bennett of misrepresenting the situation in Afghanistan to the international community, providing what he described as inaccurate and misleading information.

“Mr. Bennett’s travel to Afghanistan has been prohibited because he was assigned to spread propaganda in Afghanistan. He is not someone we trust. He is not in Afghanistan, and he is no longer permitted to come here. He used to exaggerate minor issues and propagate them,” Mujahid said.

Richard Bennett has consistently criticized what he described as human rights violations in Afghanistan in his reports to the UN. However, the Taliban government has repeatedly dismissed these criticisms, claiming they do not reflect the realities on the ground.

Bennett was appointed as the UN Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan in January 2022 and he joined the office in May 2022, tasked with documenting human rights violations in the country. Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, they have imposed strict rules not allowing women to have education in senior schools with women bearing the brunt of these restrictions. The United Nations has labelled these measures as “gender apartheid,” which has pushed women out of public life, barring them from education, work, and access to public spaces.

The Taliban government remains unrecognized by any other country, with its treatment of women being a significant barrier to international acceptance.

According to the UK’s Independent newspaper, Bennett is based outside Afghanistan but has visited the country multiple times since his appointment to assess the human rights situation. Last week, as the Taliban marked the three-year anniversary of their takeover, Bennett called on the international community to avoid normalizing the Taliban’s rule, highlighting further deteriorations in human rights over the past year.

“Over the past three years, the people of Afghanistan, especially women and girls, have been subjected to an appalling and intensifying attack on their rights and freedoms by a regime that lacks legitimacy and inclusivity, quashes all forms of dissent, represses civil society and the media, and has shown a flagrant disregard for the principles of justice, non-discrimination, equality, and the rule of law,” Bennett said in a statement, urging urgent international action.

Bennett has pointed out that since taking power, the Taliban has issued more than 80 edicts and directives specifically targeting and restricting the rights of women and girls, actions he described as systematic and amounting to crimes against humanity, including gender persecution as reported by The Independent.

Throughout his career, Bennett has served in various capacities in Afghanistan, including as the Chief of the Human Rights Service with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). He has been actively involved in promoting and protecting human rights in the country, supporting the United Nations on issues such as civilian protection, transitional justice, child rights, rule of law, and the rights of people with disabilities.