UN rights expert barred from entering Afghanistan: Report

Special rapporteurs like Bennett are independent experts within the Special Procedures body of the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council.

The UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Afghanistan has been barred from entering the country, a diplomatic source told AFP on Tuesday.

United Nations logo(AP )

"Richard Bennett was informed of the decision that he would not be welcome to return to Afghanistan several months ago," a diplomatic source confirmed to AFP after local media reported the ban, citing a Taliban government spokesman.

Since returning to power in August 2021, Taliban authorities have enforced rules based on a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Women have borne the brunt of restrictions the United Nations has labelled "gender apartheid" which have pushed them from public life.

Taliban authorities have systematically dismissed criticism of their policies from the UN and the international community.

However, when the ban was apparently issued months ago, the Taliban government stressed that their issue was not with human rights monitoring and reporting, but with Bennett personally, according to diplomatic sources.

Earlier Tuesday, Afghanistan's Tolo News quoted chief Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid as saying that Bennett had been banned "because he was appointed to Afghanistan to spread propaganda and he is not someone whose words we can trust".

"He took small issues and exaggerated them for propaganda," he said.

Special rapporteurs like Bennett are independent experts within the Special Procedures body of the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) maintains a human rights monitoring and reporting function in the country.