KABUL: The Taliban have barred UN special rapporteur Richard Bennett from entering Afghanistan, an official at the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Wednesday.
The news of Bennett’s entry ban made the rounds in local and international media this week after Taliban administration spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid accused him of engaging in propaganda.
“It (the ban) happened earlier but was not made public,” the foreign ministry official told Arab News on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Bennett assumed duties as the UN special rapporteur in May 2022, after the Taliban took over Afghanistan as American-led international forces withdrew in August 2021 — two decades after the US invaded the country.
A human rights advocate with 30 years of experience in the field, he has repeatedly criticized the Taliban administration for its human rights track record.
“Mr. Bennett has been banned from coming to Afghanistan because he was appointed for propaganda,” Mujahid told the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, as the Taliban observed the third anniversary of the takeover last week.
“He is not someone whose words we should believe. He does not stay in Afghanistan and is not allowed to come anymore … He would make a small issue large and would do propaganda, as well as he would provide false information to some other organizations.”
The comments followed Bennett’s social media post ahead of the anniversary, in which he wrote that “the int’l community must not normalize the de facto authorities or their appalling human rights violations.”
In June, he presented a report to the UN Human Rights Council calling for the Taliban to be held accountable for creating an “institutionalized system of discrimination, segregation, disrespect for human dignity and exclusion of women and girls.”
Adil Basirat, an international relations expert and former lecturer at Nangarhar University, told Arab News that the Taliban saw Bennett as influenced by the US in his work and “trying to undermine the credibility of their government” on the international stage.
“There are some serious concerns about the status of human rights in Afghanistan, including women’s education and work. The role of the UN and other organizations, particularly the special rapporteur, is vital for overseeing the situation on the ground,” he said.
“However, the UN published some reports in the past that exaggerated the situation in the country, which the Taliban don’t like because it’s presenting a negative image to the international community. The special rapporteur should always remain impartial in his statements and reports about the situation and should not be influenced by any country.”
