Global organizations asked to support Afghan media

KABUL (Pajhwok): Media advocacy groups on Wednesday asked international organizations to support Afghanistan’s media and journalists and the Islamic Emirate to prevent other institutions from interfering in media’s work according to the media law.

May 3 marks the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day, proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993.

Free media advocacy group NAI in a statement said: “This day actually shows respect for free activities of the media and the freedom of the press in Afghanistan is one of the most important achievements of the last two decades.”

However, the group said, free media activities in Afghanistan had become ‘a serious challenge’ since almost two years.

NAI said after the political changes in Afghanistan and due to economic hardships and challenges, more than half of the independent media outlets had stopped working.

It said more than 65 percent of journalists and media workers became jobless after the closure of these media organizations and economic crisis badly affected the industry.

In the current conditions, NAI said, free media activities, access to information and personal and mental safety of journalists were matters of concern and if the situation continued, it would further harm Afghanistan’s free media in the long-run.

The group once again asked international organizations to support media and journalists of Afghanistan and to fulfill their commitments of the past two decades in this regard.

“Because continued international support can guarantee basic values such as freedom of expression, access to information and the free operation of Afghanistan’s media”.

The Afghanistan Journalists Center said at least 213 cases of violence against journalists were reported from May 2022 to May 2023.

Threats and arrests were recorded and showed a 64 percent increase compared to a year ago when 130 cases were recorded, the center said.

After the fall of the previous government, half of 600 media outlets ceased functioning in Afghanistan due to economic problems and restrictions imposed by the Islamic Emirate.

Though some organizations resumed operating, the situation was going in a negative direction, the center said.

It said positive achievement in the last one year was that murder cases of journalists decreased and only one journalist was killed during this period, while four journalists were killed a year ago.

The Afghanistan Journalists Center welcomed the Ministry of Information and Culture’s plan to prevent other agencies from meddling in media affairs.

In his message on the eve of the World Press Freedom Day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said “this day highlights a basic truth:  all our freedom depends on press freedom.”

“Freedom of the press is the foundation of democracy and justice.  It gives all of us the facts we need to shape opinions and speak truth to power”

But, he said, in every corner of the world, freedom of the press was under attack.  “Truth is threatened by disinformation and hate speech seeking to blur the lines between fact and fiction, between science and conspiracy.”

At least 67 media workers were killed in 2022 — an unbelievable 50 per cent increase over the previous year.  Nearly three quarters of women journalists have experienced violence online, and one in four have been threatened physically.

Abdul Haq Hammad, former head of media monitoring at the Ministry of Information and Culture, told Pajhwok that useful freedom of the press was imperative for the development of a society.

He said the freedom of press should not undermine the national interests of the country.

Under the pretext of freedom of speech, one should not harm his country’s interest or promote foreign cultures or work for foreign espionage networks, he said.

Hamad said if there was no freedom of expression, government officials would remain unaware about people’s problems and the people would also distrust the system.

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