Targeted killings may force us to flee country: Journalists

KABUL (Pajhwok): Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) leadership on Monday held a meeting with journalists and media outlets representatives about concerns and challenges the community faced.

More than 100 journalists attended the meeting and said they had been under psychological pressure in recent months due to the environment of fear and intimidation created by targeted attacks, AIHRC said in a statement

Targeted killings of journalists in the past few months had a negative impact on media across the country, with many female journalists quitting the profession.

The journalists said it was difficult for them to travel to districts, even to those near provincial centers.

The journalists said after being threatened, they used to refer to government security agencies, but their concerns and demands were given no enough attention.

The media community was worried about more restrictions that could affect their work and their lives, the statement said.

It said the government has not shared sufficient information about preventing targeted killings of journalists and prosecuting the perpetrators.

In the meeting, journalists said they might be forced to flee the country if the government failed to ensure their safety.

In addition, the escalation of targeted attacks against journalists and the media has led to self-censorship, which can have serious negative effects on their reporting, especially investigative reporting in provinces.

In addition, the Government of Afghanistan dismantled spokesperson position for provincial governors on Dec. 2, 2020. Since then, the governors themselves are responsible for giving information to media.

“Dismantling this position has caused concerns about disruption in the free circulation of information in the country. Most journalists complain about lack of access to information and data at the provincial level.”

To this end, the media calls on the government to ensure freedom of expression and respect people’s right to access information by revising the decision of dismantling the spokesperson position in provincial governors’ offices.

The specific demands of the journalists:

• The international community must pressure the warring parties to agree on a ceasefire and end the violence and targeted killings;
• The government of Afghanistan must prevent targeted attacks, ensure security of journalists, and investigate cases of murder, threat, intimidation and violations against journalists, identify and prosecute the perpetrators and share the results with the people and families of the victims.
• Taliban cannot abdicate responsibility for the attacks by mere denials. Journalists urge the Taliban that if they themselves are not involved, they must share their information and findings with the public.

Some journalists expressed their concern over violent language and narratives by local Taliban-affiliated media regarding independent journalists and free press. This language and narrative can spread violence against independent media and must stop.

AIHRC said the Afghan media operated in an increasingly difficult environment, expressing its concern about the threats and limitations facing media and journalists.

AIHRC also expressed its empathy and solidarity with victims and survivors of the attacks on media and called on the international community, Afghan government and Taliban to urgently consider and respond to the demands of Afghan media for support, safety, protection, timely investigations and access to information.

pr/nh/ma