Press-support organizations concerned about new pressures against journalists in Afghanistan

The Afghanistan Journalists’ Center (AFJC) has reacted to Taliban’s new plan to register Afghan journalists, claiming that the plan is developed to exert more pressure on journalists.

In a statement on Monday, April 3, AFJC said: the plan in question falls outside the competence of Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture, and violates the essential spirit of journalism as well as the independence of journalists.

On this basis, the organization has demanded cancellation of the plan by Taliban officials. It should be mentioned that the Ministry of Information and Culture of the ruling Taliban has recently decided to register in its database the information of journalists operating in Afghanistan so as to issue identification cards to them.

In response, Khairullah Khairkhah, acting head of this ministry, said that no government institution other than the Ministry of Information and Culture has the right to directly interfere in press affairs.

The recent decision of the Government of Taliban has caused serious concerns about the safety of journalists.

Since Taliban came to power again in 2021, hundreds of news outlets have been stopped and thousands of journalists and media workers have been forced to leave the country as a result of severe restrictions and censorship on the press.

Previously, the Taliban group prosecuted and convicted media personalities and journalists outside of Afghanistan without their presence in any court procedure.