The Taliban have blocked UN-appointed special rapporteur Richard Bennett from entering Afghanistan, a government spokesman told local broadcaster Tolo, accusing the human rights watchdog of “spreading propaganda”.
Bennett was appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2022 to monitor the human rights situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban took control the previous year.
Bennett, who has previously said the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls could amount to a crime against humanity, is based outside Afghanistan but has visited several times to research the situation.
The U.N. Human Rights Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bennett could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Taliban government’s foreign ministry spokesman, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, told Reuters that Bennett had “failed to obtain a travel visa for Afghanistan.”
“Even after repeatedly asking Mr. Bennett to adhere to professionalism while working … it was decided that … his reports are based on bias and anecdotes detrimental to the interests of Afghanistan and the Afghan people,” Balkhi said.
After three years of rule, after foreign forces withdrew, the Taliban has yet to be formally recognized by any foreign government.
This content was originally published in Taliban bars UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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