KABUL (SW) –The U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, John Bass, has called the arrests of rights activists as 'Soviet-style' tactic.
This is in connection with the National Directorate of Security announcing on Tuesday that the head of Logar civil society, Mohammad Mosa Mehmoodi, is under custody over false claims in connection with the pedophile ring that allegedly abused hundreds of boys.
Mehmoodi can been seen in the video released by the NDS confessing of fabricating the story for the sake of asylum in a foreign country. It is important to note Mehmoodi and Ehsanullah Hamidi, human rights activist from Paktia province, went missing from Kabul last week.
However, the sudden arrest without court orders sparked outrage from the local rights groups as well as foreign diplomatic missions.
“Deeply disturbed by these Soviet-style tactics of the @NDSAfghanistan It's appalling to coerce confessions from civil society activists whose goal is to protect #Afghan children”, tweeted Ambassador Bass.
This prompted President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani to issue directives for immediately handing over the protection of the activists to the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. “I have also instructed the Ministry of Education to provide thorough report from the areas of Logar where the alleged abuse took place. I expect the report sent to me ASAP”, President Ghani tweeted.
The AIHRC confirmed on Wednesday release of Mohammad Mosa Mehmoodi and Ehsanullah Hamidi, the local human rights activist.
ENDS
