KABUL (Pajhwok): The Human Rights Watch (HRW) says Taliban have imposed widespread restrictions on freedom of expression and the media since taking power in Afghanistan, but the Ministry of Culture and Information rejected the allegations.
According to a BBC report that quoted Patricia Gossman, HRW Asia director as saying: “Despite the Taliban’s promises to allow the media to operate within the framework of Islamic law, their new rules threaten the freedom of the media in the country… the Taliban’s regulations are forcing journalists to self censor themselves for fear of being imprisoned.”
Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman of MoCI, denied the allegations, saying that freedom of expression was fully guaranteed and the media was operating freely throughout the country.
He added: “Only for the protection of national interests and to prevent prejudice, the Islamic Emirate has pointed out some issues in a small procedure to the media that should be treated with caution.”
Although dozens of media outlets in the country have recently stopped operating for economic and other reasons, the independent media is still active.
Incidents of violence against journalists have also been recorded recently.
According to reports, officials at the Ettelaat-e-Rooz newspaper said that two journalists were recently detained and beaten by the Taliban during a women’s protest, and that several people, including a Pajhwok video reporter, were detained during a protest in Nangarhar.
In Herat, a journalist was detained for three days and a non-governmental organization called CPJ said three journalists had been arrested during a protest, but the Ministry of Information and Culture said it was investigating incidents of violence against journalists and seek to prevent such acts.
sa/ma
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