Afghanistan

Taliban Arrests Prominent Afghan Girls' Education Activist in Kabul

MAR 28 2023·Updated MAR 29 2023

Story

Image credit: AFP [via Al Jazeera]

The Facts

The UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said Tuesday that the well-known advocate for girls' education, Matiullah Wesa, was detained a day earlier in Kabul, urging the Taliban-appointed authorities to clarify his whereabouts and the reason for his arrest.
Al Jazeera
The founder of the PenPath charity was reportedly arrested after coming out of a mosque, and his house was raided, becoming the latest women's education activist to be detained in Afghanistan. His brothers were also briefly detained and then released with a warning.
BBC News
An anonymous senior Taliban official reportedly confirmed that Wesa was in custody, claiming his arrest was related to his work and meetings with "Westerners" — likely referring to his gatherings with EU officials in Belgium and UN officials and foreign diplomats in Kabul.
CBS News
The Taliban took over Afghanistan following the withdrawal of the US-led coalition in August 2021. Since then, it has closed secondary schools for teenage girls and barred women from attending university.
VOA
Wesa has repeatedly urged the Taliban to reverse its bans, demanding girls have the right to go to school and learn. During the past 18 months, PenPath has carried out a door-to-door campaign to fight illiteracy and promote girls' education.
The Washington Post
His non-profit group travels across the country with a mobile school and library. In 2018, he was awarded the Meer Bacha Khan medal, one of Afghanistan's highest national civilian honors, by then-Pres. Ashraf Ghani for his campaign work.
Independent

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The Spin

Republican narrative

The current attacks on girls' and women's rights in Afghanistan are a direct result of the Biden administration's disastrous decision to withdraw from the country. His administration may pontificate about women's rights, but it has no way of enforcing them without troops on the ground.

Spectator (UK)

Democratic narrative

While US involvement in Afghanistan saw significant gains for women's rights, the fact that Afghan security forces collapsed so quickly following its withdrawal indicates that the yields weren't sustainable without an indefinite US presence, which itself wasn't sustainable or realistic.