Abuse of students: Kabul asked to free whistleblowers

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Afghan government has been asked to immediately release two local human rights campaigners who exposed an alleged pedophile ring involved in the abuse of hundreds of schoolchildren.

Earlier in the month, the campaigners discovered more than 100 videos of alleged abuse of boy students that took place in schools of central Logar province.

On Monday, an influential human rights group blamed the National Directorate of Security (NDS) for arbitrarily arresting Mussa Mahmoudi and Ehsanullah Hamidi in central Logar province.

Amnesty International said in a statement that NDS agents detained the duo on Thursday on their way to Kabul for meeting the European Union ambassador.

“The authorities should praise them for their work and hold the suspected perpetrators accountable through fair trials and without recourse to the death penalty,” said Samira Hamidi, South Asia campaigner at Amnesty International

The activists, part of a civil society investigation that found the videos of the alleged abuse, claimed some victims were murdered. The ring allegedly included schoolteachers and provincial officials.

Education Minister Mirwais Balkhi said last week he had ordered an urgent investigation into the allegations after meeting provincial authorities.

“Faced with threats from the state and non-state actors, they are operating in some of the most hazardous conditions anywhere in the world. There is impunity for attacks on these brave defenders, who have little to no protection,” the group said.

pr/mud

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