The Taliban movement arrested Matiullah Wesa, a well-known activist in favor of girls' education in Afghanistan. The UN asked the Taliban to reveal his whereabouts, The Guardian reports.
Matiullah Wesa, founder and head of the Pen Path charity, has spent more than 10 years fighting for education for out-of-school Afghan children, both boys and girls, with a focus on rural areas in southern Afghanistan. Top diplomats and human rights groups, including a senior UN official and Amnesty International, have called for his immediate release.
"He could have left Afghanistan, but he defended girls' rights to education despite the risk of working for his people," said Samira Hamidi, Amnesty International's South Asia activist.
Wesa was arrested on Friday after attending prayers at a local mosque.
"Matiullah was praying in a mosque in Kabul. When he got out, armed men in two cars came to arrest him. Our older brother was with Matiullah and asked the men to show their IDs, but instead, they showed their weapons and took Matiullah away," said Attaullah Wesa, his brother.
Matiullah founded Pen Path in 2009 with his brother. He opened schools in villages without public education and sent mobile classrooms to remote areas. On March 21, Pen Path launched a new campaign in Afghanistan that angered the Taliban government.
"Education is our basic right, and they are not happy with it," - Ataullah said, adding that his family had been monitored by Taliban intelligence services.
"Last month, some of their elders informed us that the Taliban intelligence officers wanted to arrest Matiullah. We talked with them about this issue and asked for help to get the Taliban government to negotiate with us," - he said.
Attaullah mentioned that despite the pressure and threats from the Taliban movement, Pen Path decided to continue its activities. The United Nations has called on the Taliban to clarify the whereabouts of Wesa, the reasons for his detention and to ensure that he gets in touch with his family. The deputy head of the European Union mission in Kabul called his arrest "horrific" and demanded his release.
After the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, many girls were banned from going to school, and in December 2022, the Ministry of Higher Education introduced a ban on women getting higher education. The decision has sparked outrage among the Taliban government, and opposition has become so serious that senior Taliban officials are considering ousting Akhundzoda.
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