KABUL: More than 300 Afghan journalists have suffered rights violations since the Taliban regained power in 2021, a United Nations report said Tuesday, documenting dozens of cases of torture and arbitrary arrest. There is a document.
Afghanistan’s media sector has shrunk dramatically during the three years of Taliban rule, while international observers have criticized the new rulers in Kabul for allegedly cracking down on journalists’ rights. The office said journalists and media outlets “operate in an environment of censorship and severe restrictions”.
The report said that since the return of the Taliban in August 2021 and by the end of this September, the UN team had “documented incidents of human rights violations affecting 336 journalists and media workers”.
It cited 256 cases of “arbitrary arrest and detention”, 130 cases of “violence and ill-treatment” and 75 cases of “threats or intimidation”.
UNAMA head Roza Otanbayeva said journalists “often face unclear rules about what they can and cannot report, leading to intimidation and intimidation for perceived criticism.” Mani is at risk of detention”.
Deputy Information Minister Hayatullah Mehajer Farahi recently said the media is allowed to operate if it respects “Islamic values, the country’s highest interests, its culture and traditions.”
When the Taliban seized power after their two-decade insurgency, there were 8,400 media workers in Afghanistan, including 1,700 women.
According to people working in the industry – only 5,100 remain in the profession — including 560 women — as the Taliban government has introduced far-reaching restrictions, including excluding women from the public sphere.
“Every effort must be made to ensure that journalists and media workers, including all women, are respected and protected,” said UN rights chief Volker Turk.
Afghanistan has fallen from 122nd to 178th in Reporters Without Borders’ 2021 press freedom ranking of 180 countries.