Reactions to the Ban on Bennett’s Travel to Kabul; Taliban Evades Accountability

Bayan News – The prevention of the travel of Richard Bennett, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for Afghanistan, by the Taliban, has resulted in widespread international reactions.

Stephane Dujarric, the UN Secretary-General’s spokesperson, said in a press conference on Thursday (August 22) that the ban on Bennett’s travel to Afghanistan will not prevent him from reporting on the situation in the country.

The spokesperson of the UN Secretary-General stated that the UN Special Rapporteurs act independently of the Secretary-General.

According to Dujarric, the rapporteurs sometimes do not have access to the country they are covering, but this does not prevent them from reporting on the human rights situation.

He described the UN Special Rapporteurs as “key elements in the human rights architecture.”

On the other hand, Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and prominent women’s rights activist, also strongly criticized the Taliban’s ban on Richard Bennett’s travel to Kabul.

Malala issued an official statement on Thursday regarding this action by the Taliban, saying that the Taliban is trying to evade accountability.

The statement of this women’s rights activist stated that Richard Bennett has documented and exposed the “extreme human rights violations” by the Taliban in his reports.

According to the statement, the Taliban has established a regime since taking control of Afghanistan that restricts the most basic freedoms of women and girls, which is “equivalent to gender apartheid.”

The foundation warned that this latest decision by the Taliban is “a dangerous step towards normalizing systematic oppression” of women and girls in Afghanistan.

However, Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Taliban government, had announced three days earlier that Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, no longer has permission to travel to Afghanistan.