Mujahid spurns Bennett report as propaganda

KABUL (Pajhwok): UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Richard Bennett has called the human rights situation in Afghanistan worrisome.

But Zabihullah Mujahid, chief spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), has spurned Bennett’s report as propaganda.

Presenting his report on Afghanistan to the 55th session of the Human Rights Council on Thursday, Bennett said: “The Taliban’s appalling treatment of women and girls framed in explicit gender policies violates the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the fundamental spirit and norms of international human rights law.”

He said a case against Afghanistan at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the violation of women’s rights should be initiated.

The special rapporteur outlined the situation in Afghanistan from September 1, 2023 to January 31, 2024, with further reflections on changes in the human rights landscape over the past year.

Bennett highlighted the IEA's systematic suppression and expulsion of women and girls, constituting “crimes against humanity”.

He said: “Although the Taliban’s authority in Afghanistan remains de facto, they have a duty to respect international human rights law, in particular the treaties ratified by the State of Afghanistan. However, as is once again highlighted in the present report, and in the Special Rapporteur's previous reports, the de facto authorities are failing in that duty, even in some cases in regard to their own commitments, such as the declared general amnesty for members of the former government of Afghanistan and its security forces and the Taliban’s guidelines on the treatment of detainees,” he said.

Bennett underscored the IEA's “systematic discrimination” against Afghan women and girls in their quest for complete control.

According to him, in the last two weeks in Bamyan, Ghazni, Jawzjan and Laghman, people were beaten and executed in public, which is in conflict with Afghanistan's international commitments to respecting human rights.

Officials of the Islamic Emirate said according to orders of the three courts, the murderers were punished in Ghazni, Laghman and Jawzjan. Several people were given sentences in Bamyan.

Bennett referred to increased pressure on ethnic and religious minorities in Afghanistan, particularly the Shiite community, due to targeted ISIS attacks.

In reaction, Zabihullah Mujahid said such a report on the human rights  situation was still an attempt to spread propaganda against IEA.

Mujahid said compared to the past, all Afghans, men and women, had physical, financial and spiritual safety and no one reserved the right to encroach on anyone’s right.

Before the special rapporteur report, Mujahid published a video clip on his X handle and quoted a resident of Gaza as saying: “Richard Bennett and other westerners should end human rights abuses. Truly support human rights and stop Israel’s cruelty and brutality.”

Mujahid said the issue of human rights in Afghanistan was being misused.

sa/mud