The Taliban have arrested the founder of a network of girls’ schools in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, the United Nations has said, amid restrictions imposed by the fundamentalists on female education since their return to power in August 2021.
»Matiullah Uesa, director of PenPath and an advocate for girls’ education, was arrested on Monday in Kabul,» the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a message on its official account on the social networking site Twitter.
Thus, the mission has asked the »de facto authorities» to »clarify his whereabouts and the reasons for his arrest» and to »ensure that he has access to legal representation and contact with his family». The Taliban have so far not commented on Uesa’s detention.
PenPath is a volunteer organization founded in 2009 and focuses on campaigning for the reopening of schools for girls and adolescents, girls’ education, the establishment of libraries and »ending corruption in the education sector,» it says on its Twitter account.
The Taliban authorities have faced criticism over the closure of educational centers and the exclusion of female students from them, amid a battery of discriminatory measures against women that keep them away from their jobs and govern aspects of their daily lives.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
