The Taliban have arrested media workers in six different provinces of Afghanistan in the last 10 days, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
In a tweet published Thursday, UNAMA expressed concern over the new wave of arrests of journalists by the Taliban. It raised the issue that Morteza Behboudi, an Afghan-French national, and Matiullah Wisa, an education activist and the head of educational institution Pen Path, who were arrested at the beginning of this year, are still in prison.
The organization has said that the Taliban must adhere to their obligations under international law to respect and protect freedom of expression and the rights of those in custody.
UNAMA emphasized that the detainees have the right to communicate with their families and lawyers and that the charges against them must be made clear.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan Independent Journalists Union head Hujatullah Mujadidi told the media via video recording that despite measures being put in place to effectively protect journalists – an initiative called the Media and Journalists Violation Commission and the establishment of the Department of Access to Information by the Taliban Intelligence and Culture Department – a number of journalists are still being arrested by the Taliban forces in different provinces of the country.
Mujadadi urged journalists to still remain committed to truth in their media work and to cover the current events of the country honouring the principles of neutrality, journalistic principles, and balance in media work.
Mr Mujadadi called on Taliban authorities to investigate the violations of journalists through the Media and Journalists Violation Commission in order to resolve the concerns of the media community.
Rukhshana Media understands at least six journalists have been arrested by Taliban forces in Nangarhar, Paktia, and Kandahar provinces for unknown reasons.
On August 12, Taliban forces arrested Tolonews reporter Attaullah Omar, Alive in Afghanistan reporter Wahid ul-Rahman, and Shamsullah Omari, a media activist in Kandahar province.
Mohammadyar Majroh, the representative of the Free Journalists Union of Afghanistan in Kandahar, said that efforts are underway to have these journalists released. But so far, there are no details about the reasons for their arrest and their fate.
In more recent days, Taliban forces also arrested Habibullah Sarab, a reporter for Ariana News in Paktia, Jan Agha Saleh, and Faqir Mohammad Faqirzai, a reporter for Kilid Radio in Nangarhar province.
The International Federation of Journalists published a statement on Thursday calling on the Taliban to stop persecuting media workers in Afghanistan and to respect their jobs and the media’s right to report impartially.
It says the Taliban has started a new wave of arresting media workers and journalists in August, with 12 journalists and media workers arrested by the Taliban in the last two weeks.
