UN Official Calls For Immediate Release Of Detained Afghan Activist

The UN's special rapporteur for Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, has called for the immediate and unconditional release of Parisa Mubariz, a women’s rights activist. The founder of a women rights group in the country's northern Takhar Province was arrested on February 11, along with her brother, from their home in Taluqan city, Bennett said in a tweet. Mubariz's arrest comes days after a number of women organized a small protest in Takhar Province demanding their rights to education and employment. Protesting for girls' rights to education "is not a crime," Bennett said.