Afghanistan’s Taliban have labeled the latest United Nations report on alleged human rights violations as an attempt to “tarnish perceptions” in the lead-up to this month’s international meeting to discuss the crisis-ridden country.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief Taliban spokesman, emphasized Wednesday the need for “constructive and positive engagement” between their government and the international community.
His response came a day after Richard Bennett, the U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, alleged that the Taliban’s “pattern of systematic violations of women’s and girls’ fundamental rights” has intensified.
Bennett presented his hard-hitting report on Tuesday to a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, demanding that those responsible for Afghan human rights abuses be held to account.
Some members of the United Nations, particularly the report by Richard Bennett, are attempting to tarnish perceptions ahead of the upcoming Doha meeting,” Mujahid stated. “Unfortunately, certain individuals within the United Nations are constantly trying to present a distorted image of Afghanistan and overshadow significant progress with a few limited issues,” he added.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called a two-day conference of international envoys on Afghanistan in Qatar’s capital, Doha, on June 30.
The Taliban will attend for the first time in what will be the third meeting hosted by the Gulf state since Guterres initiated the process over a year ago. The U.N.-led dialogue is aimed at establishing a coherent and unified global approach to engagement with the de facto Afghan government, which has yet to be formally recognized by the world.
