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27-11-2024
UNITED NATIONS/ KABUL: The United Nations’ mission to Afghanistan said on Tuesday the ruling Taliban had arbitrarily detained journalists 256 times since their takeover three years ago, and urged authorities there to protect the media.
In a reply accompanying the report, the Taliban-led foreign ministry denied having arrested that number of journalists and added that those arrested had committed a crime.
Journalists in Afghanistan worked under “challenging conditions”, the UN mission (UNAMA) and the UN Human Rights Office said in a statement.
“They often face unclear rules on what they can and cannot report, running the risk of intimidation and arbitrary detention for perceived criticism,” said Roza Otunbayeva, the special representative of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
“We urge the de facto authorities to ensure the safety and security of all journalists and media workers as they carry out their tasks, and to fully recognize the importance of women working in the media,” she added.
In its response, the ministry said women continued to work in the media, subject to certain conditions to meet religious morality rules, such as covering their faces and working separately from men.
It described the UN report as being “far from actual realities” and said security forces were working to protect journalists. The Afghan information ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The foreign ministry said the arrest figure was “exaggerated” and detentions took place subject to law.
“No one is arrested arbitrarily,” it said, listing the infringements of those detained.
These ranged from encouraging people to act against the system, defaming the government and providing false and baseless reports, to co-operation with the system’s enemies in the media, and providing material to media outlets against the system, it added.
The Taliban swept to power in 2021 as foreign forces withdrew, vowing to restore security and impose their strict interpretation of Islamic law.
Their administration has not been officially recognized by any foreign government and Western diplomats have said the path to recognition is being stalled by the Taliban’s curbs on women.
Amid a deteriorating humanitarian crisis and economic upheavals, people in Afghanistan suffered extreme repression and human rights violations. The Taliban placed increasing restrictions on women and girls, apparently aimed at erasing them completely from public arenas. There were international calls to investigate this gender persecution as a crime against humanity. Freedom of expression was eroded, and those peacefully expressing views critical of the Taliban faced enforced disappearance, unlawful detention, arbitrary arrest, torture and other ill-treatment. The culture of impunity continued, including for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Freedom of religion shrank further under Taliban rule. Ethnic groups, including religious minorities, faced increasing marginalization, prejudice and forced evictions. The Taliban enforced public executions and corporal punishment such as stoning and flogging.
The space for freedom of expression and media continued to shrink drastically. In March, at least two journalists were reportedly killed in a bomb attack. Dozens were arbitrarily arrested and harassed for reports critical of the Taliban or violating Taliban rules. At least 64 journalists were detained by the Taliban for varying periods between August 2021 and August 2023. Murtaza Behboodi, a Franco-Afghan journalist, was released after nine months’ detention. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
