Taliban Impose Travel Ban On UN Special Rapporteur

ISLAMABAD, Aug 21 (Bernama-dpa) -- The Taliban government has imposed a travel ban on Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur for Afghanistan, citing his alleged dissemination of propaganda against the country, reported German news agency (dpa) on Wednesday, citing Afghan media.

Bennett, appointed in April 2022, has consistently criticised human rights violations in Afghanistan and called on the international community to avoid normalising the Taliban's rule.

The Taliban's decision comes amid ongoing restrictions on human rights and freedoms.

Since returning to power, the Taliban de facto government has not allowed Afghan girls and women to study beyond primary school. In some parts of the country, women and girls continue to attend religious schools, as well as midwifery and nursing schools, but these opportunities remain limited.

The Taliban defend their actions as necessary to uphold the country's law, social norms and public safety. 

The group denies that it has imposed complete bans on women’s activities and highlighted that nearly 9,000 work permits have been issued to women since the Taliban’s takeover and that many women are employed in the Afghan workforce.

-- BERNAMA-dpa