KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Afghanistan Journalist Center (AFJC) reports that the Taliban has detained a local journalist associated with Radio Free Europe in southeastern Ghazni province amid an intensified crackdown on media in Afghanistan.
In a press release today, April 17, the media watchdog said that Habibur Rahman Taseer was detained by the Taliban intelligence in Ghazni 12 days ago and was transferred to the regime’s prison three days ago.
AFJC cited local sources saying that the Taliban arrested the journalist on allegations of preparing reports for Radio Free Europe. The Taliban confiscated his smartphone and checked all its content without the journalist’s consent.
Expressing concern for the journalist’s well-being in Taliban custody, the media watchdog called on local Taliban authorities to release him immediately and without any condition.
Radio Free Europe and the Taliban have not issued any comments regarding this incident as of yet.
Radio Free Europe is based in Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic, where it produces and broadcasts its programs for Afghanistan.
Two years ago, the Taliban suspended the operations of Radio Free Europe and Radio Voice of America, both supported by the US government, in Afghanistan. Two months later, the regime shut down the websites of these two media outlets, saying that they had repeatedly “failed to adhere” to the regime’s press laws and “violated journalistic principles.”
The Taliban’s takeover has decimated Afghanistan’s once-thriving media industry, leaving journalists vulnerable to arrest, harassment, and torture. Despite an initial promise to allow press freedom after seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban has arrested and tortured dozens of journalists and media workers, accusing them of propagating against the regime or working for Western media.
Female journalists have faced further challenges. The Taliban banned nearly all women from the workforce, leading to a financial crisis for families in which women were the primary breadwinners. A report by the International Federation of Journalists indicates that 95% of female journalists have been unemployed because of Taliban restrictions.
AFJC says that currently, at least three journalists are in Taliban custody. However, during the previous solar year, AFJC reported documenting at least 139 incidents involving violations of media and journalist rights, including 80 threats and 59 arrests.
According to the report, although there were no targeted attacks leading to injury or death during last year, the media watchdog recorded eight instances of media work being suspended and cases involving the prosecution and imprisonment of radio station managers.
Meanwhile, as part of its ongoing crackdown on media and press, the Taliban’s Media Violations Commission yesterday temporarily suspended two private TV channels, Noor TV and Barya TV, in Kabul, accusing them of violating “journalistic principles and Islamic values.”
In a separate statement today, AFJC condemned the Taliban’s decision to suspend the private TV channels, emphasizing that it blatantly violates Afghanistan’s mass media law and represents an attempt to further suppress free media activities, which is “unacceptable.”
The media watchdog says that media outlets have the right to operate freely and that Taliban authorities should not impose restrictions on them. It emphasizes that what the Taliban Media Violations Commission has deemed violations by these two media outlets are, in fact, within the legal rights of the media.
