Journalism goes extinct in Afghanistan
In the last few days, news reports have documented the dramatic deterioration of the situation in Kabul, with journalists becoming targets of Taliban retribution and death threats. The Taliban have already staged an attack against press representatives in Kabul despite public claims of respecting press freedom, demonstrating their intentions to silence independent voices in the country.
Journalists are being hunted, beaten, and killed.
The Taliban’s hunt for journalists is endless. A striking example of this is a DW journalist who Taliban militants have reportedly hunted down. To save his life, the journalist has to be evacuated to Germany. Meanwhile, Taliban fighters were conducting a house-to-house search for him in Afghanistan. Unable to find him, they killed a member of his family and seriously injured another.
According to the same reports, Taliban militants killed the journalist Toofan Omar, who served as the head of Paktia Ghah Radio, and kidnapped a second, Nematullah Hemat, who worked for Ghargash TV. Earlier this month, before taking full control of the government, the Taliban killed Amdadullah Hamdard, a contributor to the German newspaper Die Zeit. Danish Siddiqui, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer from India, was killed in Kandahar, presumably by Taliban militants.
News reports highlight that Taliban militants do not hesitate to use alternative means of violence against journalists, as evidenced by the case of a journalist and a cameraman being bitten by a Taliban member while covering a protest in Afghanistan.
Taking over the media
The Taliban now control the media and have begun efforts to marginalize female journalists. Reports indicate that representatives of the Taliban regime have already forbidden at least two female journalists from returning to their positions at the public broadcaster Radio Television. Additionally, the Taliban took control of the radio station and ordered other journalists not to return to their jobs until further notice from the regime.
Experts of the situation in Afghanistan fear that journalism will go extinct as many professionals intend to leave the country, and those who stay behind will be subject to life-threatening repercussions. It is possible that the country will revert to the dire situation that plagued the regime during the Taliban's rule from 1996 to 2001 when no local Afghan news outlets existed in Afghanistan.
Taliban officials have previously stated that they would let journalists, including those who are women, return to work, but their actions suggest otherwise. Afghan journalists fear that they and their families may become the victims of the Taliban’s reprisals. Public statements have been issued by media organizations and press freedom advocates are calling on the Taliban to live up to their commitment to allow the media to operate freely and independently. However, the developments of the last few weeks leave little room for hope.
Today, the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the United States (AFPC-USA | ForeignPressCorrespondents.org) released a statement on the need to protect women journalists in Afghanistan, following the abrupt overthrowing of the Afghan government.
Relevant resources:
Taliban swear to respect freedom of the press. Can anyone believe them?
