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KABUL: The Taliban prevented Richard Bennett, the United Nations Special Envoy for Human Rights, from entering Afghanistan.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid accused the United Nations human rights watchdog of spreading propaganda and said that Richard Bennett will not be allowed to enter the country.
The Taliban spokesman said that Richard Bennett, the UN special representative for human rights, was assigned to spread propaganda in Afghanistan and that he exaggerated very small problems.
It should be noted that the Taliban spokesperson has also previously said that the Taliban respects the rights of women according to their interpretation of Islamic law and local customs and will not come under pressure from anyone on this matter.
Meanwhile, the spokesman of the Taliban government’s foreign ministry, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, told Reuters that the United Nations special representative for human rights, Richard Bennett, had failed to obtain a travel visa to Afghanistan.
Abdul Qahar Balkhi added that Richard Bennett was repeatedly asked to act professionally during his work but he always produced biased reports about Afghanistan and the Afghan people.
The UN Human Rights Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter, while Richard Bennett could not immediately be reached despite efforts, according to Reuters.
It should be noted that Richard Bennett was appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2022 to monitor the human rights situation in Afghanistan.
Richard Bennett, who currently lives outside Afghanistan but has visited Afghanistan several times to research the situation, has repeatedly said that the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls amounts to crimes against humanity.
It should be remembered that since the Taliban came to power in 2021, no country has officially recognized their government, while several Western countries, including the United States, have made it conditional on the provision of rights to women.
