Matiullah Wesa, the founder and president of Pen Path, a non-governmental organization that travels across Afghanistan with a mobile school and library, has been in prison for 114 days after being arrested by the Taliban in March 2023. The Taliban has not given any reason for Wesa’s arrest, but human rights groups believe it is because of his work advocating for girls’ education.
Wesa has been a vocal critic of the Taliban’s restrictions on girls’ education, and he has also spoken out against corruption in the Afghan government. His arrest is a clear violation of his human rights, and it is a sign of the Taliban’s disregard for the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.
The Taliban has denied Wesa access to legal representation and contact with his family. He is also being held incommunicado, which means that the outside world has no way of knowing how he is being treated.
There have been calls from human rights groups and international organizations for the Taliban to release Wesa. However, the Taliban has so far refused to do so.
Taliban GDI Resources confirmed, that “Matiullah Wesa, the founder and president of Pen Path, was providing intelligence reports to Western organizations. The Taliban says that it has evidence of Wesa’s activities on his cell phone.”
Wesa’s arrest has been condemned by human rights groups, who say that it is a violation of his human rights. They also say that the Taliban’s claim that Wesa was spying for the West is baseless.
The Taliban has not released any evidence to support its claim. The only evidence that has been made public is a screenshot of a text message that Wesa allegedly sent to a Western contact. The screenshot does not provide any context, and it is unclear what the message means.
