UN report: Taliban have detained Afghan journalists more than 250 times

washington — 

Journalists successful Afghanistan are forced to navigate an situation of “censorship and choky restrictions” nether Taliban rule, the United Nations has said.

From the Taliban takeover connected August 15, 2021, to September 30 of this year, the Taliban person detained journalists 256 times and 130 cases of torture and mediocre attraction person been documented, according to the study published Tuesday by the U.N. Assistance Mission successful Afghanistan, oregon UNAMA.

The study documents the “arbitrary arrests, torture, and violence” that journalists person been taxable to since 2021, according to Freshta Hemmati, of the Afghanistan Journalists Support Organization.

“They are moving nether the terrible unit of censorship and restrictions,” she told VOA.

The Taliban-led overseas ministry said that the figures successful the study were “exaggerated” and that journalists are detained lone for violations of law, the Reuters quality bureau reported.

The ministry cited crimes including defaming the government, mendacious oregon baseless reports, and providing worldly to media outlets against the system, Reuters reported.

The UNAMA study recovered that journalists and media workers successful Afghanistan often look “unclear rules connected what they tin and cannot report.” This leads to the precocious hazard of arbitrary detention for what the Taliban deem arsenic criticism.

Analysts who spoke with VOA said that the study reflects the media suppression successful Afghanistan and is simply a hallmark of the Taliban rule.

“The purpose of multiplying the arrests is to instill fearfulness successful the full media assemblage and to provoke self-censorship and submission," Célia Mercier, caput of Reporters Without Borders’ South Asia Desk, told VOA successful an email.

Since the Taliban resumed power, they person imposed a strict mentation of Islamic law. Their medication has not been officially recognized by immoderate overseas government. Within 3 months of the takeover, astir 40% of Afghan media outlets disappeared, according to the media watchdog radical Reporters Without Borders, oregon RSF.

The takeover led to a ample exodus of journalists. Those who stay hazard being targeted, according to Beh Lih Yi, of the Committee to Protect Journalists, oregon CPJ.

CPJ has documented “cruel assaults and beatings” of journalists by Taliban forces. Often, journalists and their families take to stay soundless astir a detention for fearfulness of retribution.

“All these repressive measures of the Taliban are aimed astatine creating a chilling effect connected the property and deterring journalists from continuing their reporting,” Beh told VOA successful an email.

The restrictions person particularly impacted women journalists successful Afghanistan, Hemmati, of the Afghanistan Journalists Support Organization, told VOA. After the Taliban takeover, 8 successful 10 women journalists stopped working, according to RSF data.

The Taliban overseas ministry, successful its effect to the UNAMA report, said women were escaped to enactment if they met conditions, specified arsenic covering their faces and moving separately from men.

Watchdogs person called connected Afghan authorities to uphold property state by respecting the country’s media law, ratified astir a decennary ago. This instrumentality outlines the close to escaped look successful the country, with the extremity of protecting journalists, according to the Afghanistan Journalists Center.

The UNAMA study called connected the Taliban to amended conditions for media.

“We impulse the de facto authorities to guarantee the information and information of each journalists and media workers arsenic they transportation retired their tasks, and to afloat admit the value of women moving successful the media sector,” Roza Otunbayeva, peculiar typical of the secretary-general and caput of UNAMA, said successful the report.

Afghanistan is ranked astatine No. 178 retired of 180 connected the Press Freedom Index, wherever 1 signals the champion environment. In 2021, earlier the Taliban takeover, the state ranked 122nd.

Sahar Azimi of VOA’s Afghan Service contributed to this report.