ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban’s intimidation, threats and assaults on Afghan journalists are unacceptable, the U.N. mentioned Wednesday, because it expressed concern for the way forward for the nation’s media.
Many journalists misplaced their jobs after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, with media shops closing over a scarcity of funds or as a result of employees left the nation. Ladies journalists face further hardships due to work bans and journey restrictions.
Throughout their earlier rule within the late Nineteen Nineties, the Taliban barred most tv, radio and newspapers within the nation.
The U.N. mission in Afghanistan mentioned that though journalists proceed to work, they’re pressured to navigate “unclear and sometimes arbitrary boundaries of reporting in opposition to an ever-present risk of repression and closure.”
Its feedback coincide with World Press Freedom Day, which is noticed Might 3.
The UN secretary-general’s particular consultant for Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, mentioned the day was a second to indicate solidarity with the Afghan journalists making an attempt to take care of unbiased reporting.
“Journalists are being pressured to make editorial selections primarily based on worry, not public curiosity,” mentioned Otunbayeva. “The persistent intimidation, threats, and assaults on journalists are unacceptable. We urge the Taliban de facto authorities to ensure the liberty and independence of the media, and the protection of journalists, men and women alike.”
No one from the Tradition and Info Ministry was instantly out there for remark. It’s holding an occasion in Kabul to mark World Press Freedom Day.
Media watchdog Reporters with out Borders ranks Afghanistan 152 out of 180 nations in its newest World Press Freedom Index, launched Wednesday. It mentioned the atmosphere for reporters continues to worsen and ladies journalists have “been actually erased from public life.”
It mentioned 43% of Afghan media shops disappeared after the Taliban takeover of August 2021. Of the ten,780 individuals working in Afghan newsrooms, 8,290 males and a couple of,490 ladies, initially of that month, simply 4,360 have been nonetheless working in December, 3,950 males and 410 ladies.