UN human rights rapporteur Richard Bennett denied entry to Afghanistan

The UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, has been banned from entering the country, a diplomatic source told AFP on Tuesday. “Richard Bennett was informed several months ago that he was not allowed to travel to Afghanistan,” the source said after an Afghan media outlet reported the ban, quoting an Afghan government spokesman.

Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have consistently rejected criticism from the United Nations and the international community of their policies, which are based on a strict interpretation of Islamic law. Women, excluded from education and public life, are subject to what the United Nations has described as “gender apartheid.”

on charges of spreading propaganda

Earlier on Tuesday, local Tolo News TV quoted Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid as saying that Richard Bennett had been banned from entering the country “because he was appointed in Afghanistan to spread propaganda. He is not someone we can trust.”

In late June, Richard Bennett condemned the Taliban’s demand to exclude Afghan women and civil society representatives from a UN-organized meeting in Qatar. Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general, neither confirmed nor denied the ban, saying simply: “Special rapporteurs play a fundamental role in the global human rights architecture. We encourage full cooperation with them.”