By Naweed Samadi in TOLOnews, Dec 16, 2023 at 10:37 PM
NAI, a group that supports open media in Afghanistan, reported that since the beginning of 2023 they have recorded 120 cases of violence, arrest, mistreatment and killing of journalists in the country.
The head of NAI, Zarif Karimi, said that this statistic shows an increase in violence against journalists in recent years, based on the number of employees.
“In the year 2023 we recorded more than 120 cases of violence, security events and unprincipled behavior towards journalists, of which nearly eighty cases of them, which include cases of arrest, beating, humiliation, insults, and unprincipled behaviors,” Karimi noted.
In the meantime, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) voiced its worries in a report on the restrictions placed on media workers and journalists in Afghanistan, as well as the violations of their rights.
IFJ has criticized the lack of attention tp journalists’ cases by the Media Violation Commission.
“We ask the Ministry of Information and Culture to ratify the media law as soon as possible so that the cases against journalists should be resolved as soon as possible,” Shagha Sadat, a journalist told TOLOnews.
“We hope that after this they investigate the cases related to journalists separately and impartially,” Afshar, another journalist, told TOLOnews.
However, the Ministry of Information and Culture said that media operations in Afghanistan have improved from the past and that all cases involving journalists and other media workers have been addressed promptly.
The acting deputy of the ministry, Haqmal Zial, said that some journalists who are arrested in the country have violated the laws of the ministry.
“The Ministry of Information and Culture is obliged to be in contact with the intelligence community and the institutions that work in the media sector so that when a problem arises it should be addressed, and the Ministry of Information and Culture pursues the issues related to the media or violations,” Zia noted.
Following the Islamic Emirate’s coming to power, several journalists have long expressed concern over their lack of access to information and the occasionally misbehaving of the nation’s security forces.
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan/attack-mediajournalists-186521
