The Afghan administration announced that the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, was banned from entering the country.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Afghan interim government, told the German news channel Deutsche Welle (DW) that most international institutions, especially the UN, are “biased” and “enemies.”
Noting that they held meetings with officials of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which has an office in Kabul, Mujahid said that they made the necessary warnings and informed them that they rejected the reports published by the UN on human rights issues.
Mujahid stated that they did not respect UN rapporteur Bennett and that he did not have permission to travel to Afghanistan, and described the reason as “propaganda against Afghanistan.”
Mujahid made the following statements:
“Mr. Bennett was banned from coming to Afghanistan because he was tasked with doing propaganda for Afghanistan. He is not someone we can trust. He is not in Afghanistan and he is not allowed to come because he is involved in propaganda. He was making small issues bigger and giving false information to other institutions. That is why he is banned in Afghanistan.”
Mujahid said that these institutions do not see the “positive developments” taking place in Afghanistan and focus on “the issues they see as weak”, adding that “they are trying to spread propaganda against Afghanistan.”
Mücahid said that they declared a general amnesty when they came to power in August 2021, and that the officials who were the subject of the reports and violated the general amnesty were punished.
Bennett was appointed as the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan in April 2022. Bennett has been critical of the current administration over the human rights situation in Afghanistan.
The Afghan administration argues that the international community’s reports, especially on human rights issues, are “contrary to the realities of Afghanistan.”
