UN calls for release of Afghan girls' education activist Matiullah Wesa

No reason given for arrest of head of Penpath charity on Monday

Matiullah Wesa, the president of Pen Path, teaches girls in Afghanistan. PA

The UN mission in Afghanistan has called for the release of an Afghan girls' school project founder after he was arrested in Kabul on Monday.

Matiullah Wesa, head of the PenPath Charity, has been campaigning for girls' right to study since the Taliban took over and banned female education in 2021.

“Unama calls on the de facto authorities to clarify his whereabouts, the reasons for his arrest and to ensure his access to legal representation and contact with family,” the mission wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

The Taliban have not said why Mr Wesa was arrested and have not shared details about his well-being or whereabouts.

Samiullah Wesa said his brother was picked up outside a mosque after prayers on Monday evening.

“Matiullah had finished his prayers and came out of the mosque when he was stopped by some men in two vehicles,” Mr Wesa told AFP.

“When Matiullah asked for their identity cards, they beat him and forcefully took him away.”

The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, said he was alarmed by reports of the arrest.

He said Mr Wesa was a “famous educator especially for girls, a leading civil society member”.

“His safety is paramount and all his legal rights must be respected”, he said.

International fears heightened for women's rights following the takeover by the Taliban, 20 years after it was last in power.

Despite claims that it would protect women's rights, the Taliban barred women from attending university in December and from working for aid groups a month later.

Women are also not allowed in most public spaces, including parks, gyms and swimming pools.

While access to lower-level schooling varies by region, most girls in grade six or above are barred from pursuing an education, and schools that have stayed open have been the targets of horrific attacks.

Mr Wesa's last tweet, this weekend, was a photo of women volunteers for PenPath “asking for the Islamic rights to education for their daughters”.

Earlier this month, the UN mission said the country was the world's most repressive for women and girls and criticised the Taliban's draconian restrictions.

The Taliban, who seized control of the country nearly two years ago “have demonstrated an almost singular focus on imposing rules that leave most women and girls effectively trapped in their homes”, mission head Roza Otunbayeva said.

Confining women to their homes is not only a “colossal act of national self-harm” but condemns generations to come to a life of poverty, she said.