Taliban Leader Appoints Mullah Shirin As Governor of Kandahar

The UN body said that the journalists have been forced to work in a climate of intimidation and fear amid increased restrictions by the Taliban.

UNAMA stressed that since August 2021, large number of media professionals have fled Afghanistan, and the sector has been hit by the country’s economic crisis.

The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Roza Otunbayeva said that the World Press Freedom Day was a moment to show solidarity with the Afghan journalists still attempting to maintain independent reporting in the country.

She added, “Journalists are being forced to make editorial decisions based on fear, not public interest. Its sadly part of a wider trend of declining freedom of expression and access to information.”

Otunbayeva called the "persistent intimidation, threats, and attacks" on journalists unacceptable and urged the Taliban authorities to guarantee the freedom and independence of the media, and the safety of male and female journalists alike.

The UN body said that although the Taliban have re-activated a national Media Violations Commission to liaise with journalists, its lack of independence and scant effectiveness need to be addressed.

According to UNAMA, the legal framework for the media also remains unclear, and journalists are forced to navigate unclear and often arbitrary boundaries of reporting against an ever-present threat of repression and closure.

The European Parliament member criticised that the Taliban continues to harass female media workers and has imposed severe restrictions on female journalists in the country.

Neumann added that the Taliban continues to press women to wear masks during TV appearances and said that female journalists are only allowed to interview women for TV and radio programmes.

However, according to Neumann, male Taliban intelligence operatives occasionally call female reporters, question them, and intimidate and harass them.

With the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban in August 2021, the group has imposed many restrictions on media operations and has pressurised female journalists to stop working in Afghan media sector.

He added that they will continue their higher education studies after receiving a bachelor's degree.

Most Taliban members are trained in the religious seminaries of Pakistan and lack professional higher education.

However, the Taliban has appointed most of its members to senior government offices across Afghanistan without any formal professional educational background.

May 3 is celebrated every year as World Press Freedom Day.

The Taliban has imposed severe restrictions on media organisations and journalists in Afghanistan for more than 20 months.

The group has imposed more restrictions on female journalists in the Afghan media sector. Among other restrictions, the Taliban have ordered female TV presenters to wear masks.

In addition to this, Afghanistan Journalists Center published a report on Tuesday saying that the organisation has documented 213 cases of violence against journalists in Afghanistan over the past year.

Meanwhile, Shaharzad Akbar, the former head of Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission, said on Wednesday that in the last two years, thousands of journalists and media activists, especially female journalists, have lost their jobs.

Akbar added that journalists have been detained, imprisoned, and tortured under the Taliban reign.

At the same time, Nai, supporting open media in Afghanistan, announced that after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, over 50 percent of the Afghan media sector stopped operation due to economic problems and other challenges in the country.

According to Nai, more than 65 percent of journalists and media workers have also lost their jobs.

According to the media watchdog, Taliban and ISIS attacks on journalists in Balkh province have been the main reasons for the increase in violence against journalists and media in Afghanistan.

AFJC has recorded cases of killing of one journalist, 21 injuries, six physical violence incidents, 115 cases of threats, and 70 cases of detentions of journalists in Afghanistan over the past year.

The report stated that Afghan-French journalist Mortaza Behboudi, and Afghan journalist Khairullah Parhar continue to remain in detention under the Taliban.

Afghanistan Journalists Center stressed that except for one attack on the lives of journalists that took place in Mazar-e-Sharif and ISIS claimed responsibility for it, the Taliban have been behind other cases of violence, detention, and threats against journalists.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, on the eve of World Press Freedom Day, the UN Secretary-General announced a 50 percent increase in the killing of journalists in 2022.

He said that in 2022, at least 67 media workers have been killed around the world. According to him, one out of every four female journalists has been subjected to online harassment.