The United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights called on Afghanistan's Taliban administration on Friday to release a university lecturer and education activist detained by security forces in the capital Kabul.
Local media reported Ismael Mashal had been distributing academic and other books on Kabul's streets after tearing up his own diploma on live television in protest at a Taliban decision in December to ban female students from universities.
The decision came after Taliban authorities closed most girls' high schools and barred most women from working for charity groups.
