Kabul – The plight of journalists in Afghanistan has reached a critical point, with reports confirming that the Taliban regime is intensifying its restrictions, arbitrary arrests, and threats against the media, prompting strong condemnation from global human rights organizations.
Sources say that at least two high-profile Afghan journalists, Mahdi Ansari and Hamid Farhadi, are among 11 media professionals in Taliban custody held at the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI).
Specific Targets and Coercion
The backgrounds of the detained journalists highlight the specific risks faced by those who report critically on the current regime. A Bamyan native and a highly regarded bureau head of Amu TV, Ansari has spent more than half a year in detention. He is believed to have an active U.S. refugee case, which may make him an easy target because of the perceived external ties. A Northern reporter, Farhadi, has been detained for about one month. He wrote extensively on the activities of the National Resistance Front (NRF), a major anti-Taliban group.
Through these arrests, it is clear that Afghan journalists, particularly those who cover NRF operations or present non-Taliban accounts, are increasingly being coerced, monitored, and directly threatened.
Erosion of Freedom of Speech
Journalists have remained victims of censorship, brutality, arbitrary detentions, and extended imprisonment under the Taliban rule in Afghanistan. This is an example of the absence of transparency and due process within Afghanistan. The crackdown is escalating with the increasing restrictions on the Afghan media, especially those who dare to report critically on the Taliban security operations.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been vocal about the situation. The CPJ has called on the government to release all arrested journalists immediately, according to Afghan media outlet Aamaj News (Amo TV).
According to CPJ, since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, press freedom has been critically compromised. CPJ also documented that journalists in Afghanistan are arrested without a reason, held longer than necessary, beaten, and even threatened, which has resulted in a crippling atmosphere of fear. Moreover, dozens of media outlets have been closed, and women journalists are especially severely limited.
The watchdog observed that the continued harassment and incarceration of journalists by the Taliban reveals the hypocrisy of the group about freedom of expression and fundamental human rights.
According to Amo TV, more than 1,500 journalists from over 100 countries have endorsed CPJ’s demand, adding to the mounting global pressure on the Taliban regime.
