Afghan journalists have endured another year of “severe restrictions on their fundamental and legal protection” with the situation getting worse than previous years, the Afghanistan Journalists Center (AfJC) said in its annual report released on National Journalist Day.
The report says that pressure on media and journalists has intensified in the past solar year 1402 – from March 20, 2023 to March 20, 2024 – with the main cause being directives from the Taliban de facto authorities.
The AfJC said it has documented 139 incidents of media and journalists’ right violations, including 80 threats against journalists for doing their job and 59 arrests.
“Although the consequences of non-compliance with media directives are not explicitly stated, journalists and media outlets have encountered threats, imprisonment, and punitive measures such as temporary or permanent bans for disregarding orders,” the AfJC said.
“Violations of journalists’ rights are systematic and perpetrated by both the Taliban government and individual officials in various provinces.”
The media monitor said that there’s been a decrease in the number of registered cases of violations of journalists’ and media rights compared to the previous solar year 1401, although it does not say if this is because of a decrease in the number of working journalists which has also decreased.
Despite the decrease in registered cases, the AfJC said it has observed an alarming trend of more unilateral action being taken by local Taliban authorities and more power exercised by certain influential Taliban officials in several provinces over the past year.
The report highlighted eight instances of media activity bans in the past year, including the closure of a long-running joint journalism training program for men and women, the suspension of five local radio stations for several hours to a week, temporary shutdown of a local radio and television channel for 20 days, and closure of another local radio station for five months.
Furthermore, over the past 12 months, trials were conducted for the responsible managers of two local radio stations, one charged with criminal offenses and the other with collaboration with foreign media and espionage. The individuals were sentenced to one year in prison each, and they are currently serving their sentences.
The annual report also implicates the Taliban’s Ministry of Vice and Virtue and the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) in the suppression and intimidation of journalists.
