Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel laureate and education advocate, has condemned the Taliban’s decision to bar Richard Bennett, the United Nations special rapporteur, from traveling to Afghanistan.
In a statement, Malala highlighted Bennett’s work in exposing the Taliban’s severe human rights abuses, particularly against women and girls. Since taking power, the Taliban has imposed a “governance model” that, according to Malala, restricts the “most basic” freedoms of Afghan women and girls.
Malala’s remarks came after Bennett revealed in an interview with Amu that the Taliban had informed his office that he would not be “welcomed” in Afghanistan. Malala characterized the ban as an attempt by the Taliban to “evade accountability.”
“It is also dangerous in its potential to normalize the system of oppression against women and girls in Afghanistan,” Malala warned.
She renewed her call for the international community to recognize gender apartheid as a crime against humanity.
