Ghani, US, German Ambassadors, UNAMA Slammed NDS Over Handling Pedophile Ring Claim

In a series of tweets, Ghani has said he was “deeply disturbed about the recent reports on sexual abuse” in schools in Logar Province, south of Kabul, and that he instructed the Education Ministry to provide him a “thorough report” on the matter as soon as possible.
The move comes after the British newspaper The Guardian earlier this month reported that at least 546 boys from six schools have allegedly been abused by a pedophile ring involving teachers and local officials.
Amid national outrage over the allegations, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) has come under fire for arresting last week two human rights defenders Musa Mahmudi and Ehsanullah Hamidi who gave interviews about the purported pedophile ring.
The NDS on Tuesday described the Guardian report as “baseless” and said Mahmudi’s claims in the article were part of a scheme aimed at securing asylum in a foreign country.
In the meantime, the US ambassador to Afghanistan, John Bass, said he was “deeply disturbed by these Soviet-style tactics” of the NDS.
“It’s appalling to coerce confessions from civil society activists whose goal is to protect Afghan children,” he added on Twitter.
Peter Prugel, the Ambassador of Germany to Afghanistan also said in a Twitter post “Serious concerned about the illegal detention of human rights defenders. Afghanistan’s NDS interference in this case of alleged child abuse is unacceptable! Allegations of most serious human rights violations need to be thoroughly investigated, not silenced.”
Meanwhile, the United Missions Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has also announced support for an investigation by Afghanistan Attorney General’s Office into allegations of sexual abuse against children in Logar & urged immediate release of the human rights defenders from NDS detention.