Afghanistan: another deadly Year for Journalists in 2019
Within the first six months of 2019, Afghanistan has lost six of its journalists in separate incidents, the first death of a journalist was recorded by RSF in Afghanistan this year.
35 cases of violence against journalists and media staff were recorded by Nai, supporting open media in Afghanistan which includes 5 cases of murder, 6 injuries, 17 cases of threats and insults, 3 cases of attacks on media, 3 cases of beating, and 1 case of IED explosion.
Unfortunately, murder cases are just the most extreme violences against journalists but other violences remain prevalent including: kidnapping, beating, injuring, insulting and humiliating journalists.
Recently the Taliban terrorist group issued new threats to media outlets in Afghanistan, demanding an immediate halt to publications of pro-government advertisements.
Working as a journalist in war-torn Afghanistan is not easy and safety is an increasing concern for journalists around the country.
The Taliban and Islamic State (ISIS) were involved in crimes against humanity and are the most responsible for the attacks on journalists and media staff in Afghanistan. They targeted journalists, aimed to silence press freedom and incite fear among the people.
January
Afghan Journalist Javid Noori
Javid Noori was the first journalist in the world killed in Afghanistan by Taliban fighters on January 5th, 2019.
He was killed when the Taliban searched a bus he was on at a roadblock in the western Frarah province of Afghanistan. Only 27 years old, Javid Noori worked for Neshat Radio in the western Farah province of Afghanistan.
February
Local journalists Shafiqullah Arya and Rahimullah Rahmani
In February, two other radio journalists were shot and killed in the northern Takhar province of Afghanistan.
Shafiqullah Arya and Rahimullah Rahmani were shot and killed by two unidentified men who entered Radio Hamsada’s office, a local radio station based in Taloqan city in northeastern Afghanistan. They were killed during a live program.
March
View of Sultan Mahmood Khairkhwas tomb in Southern Khost province of Afghanistan
Sultan Mahmood Khairkhwa, local Afghan journalist of Zhman TV died from complications after being shot in head by ISIS gunmen in the southern Khost city of Afghanistan on March 15th.
More violence against journalists this month was seriously wounded Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi. Ahmadi the local Afghan journalist was on his way to his office when an IED bomb that was embedded in his car, detonated in Lashkargah city of Helmand province in southwestern Afghanistan.
He worked with Helmand based Sabawoon TV in Afghanistan.
April
More bad news for journalists this month, a gunmen attacked radio journalist, Imran Lemar. Lemar worked at Mazal radio and was shot & injured by an unknown gunman in the eastern Jalalabad city of Afghanistan on April 25th.
Also in April, the 1TV Editor-in-Chief, Abdullah Khenjani was beaten by a presidential protection guard in Kabul city.
May
Meena Mangal presenting TV show in local TV in Kabul
Tragic news in May for the family of female Afghan journalist, Meena Mangal who was shot dead Kabul, the capital city by unknown gunmen.
Meena Mangal was shot dead in public on May 11th while she was on her way to work in Kabul. Her family wants justice from the government.
Leaders from around the world like Justin Trudeau commended Meena Mangal’s journalistic integrity and her advocacy for women and girls while condemning the violence that ended her life.
She worked at Tolo TV, the largest private broadcaster in Afghanistan, as well as Shamshad and Lemar television stations.
She had also recently become a cultural adviser to the lower chamber of Afghanistan’s national parliament.
July
AFJC Shaki Baluch
According to the Afghan media, Shaki Baluch, a local journalist of National broadcaster (RTA) killed in southern Zabul province of Afghanistan by unknown gunmen in the month of July and also seven employees of local Shamshad TV stations were wounded in an attack in the capital of the country.
Moreover, recently Taliban insurgents issued new threats against Afghan media which sparks Global Reaction. Unfortunately, murder cases are just the most extreme violences against journalists but other violences remain prevalent including: kidnapping, beating, injuring, insulting and humiliating journalists.
The Afghan government has made repeated commitments to ensure the protection of journalists and journalistic protection institutions have repeatedly asked the government to protect journalists. But challenges remain for journalist’s safety today. RSF recognized Afghanistan as the deadliest country for journalists in the world. 15 journalists were killed in 2018.
SYRIA. The difficult integration of citizens-journalists in the media industry28/12/2022 - 3:26 Since 2011, Syrians have been combining journalism with activism. A look back at ten years of struggle for press freedom with Manar Rachwani.
Afghanistan: women’s journalists cry of alarm23/11/2022 - 10:32 “We were imprisoned for four hours, threatened and tortured. They forbade us to do interviews.” How do Afghan journalists defend their right to inform under the Taliban regime?
War in Afghanistan : one year under the Taliban regime08/11/2022 - 9:57 More than a year ago, the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. But their regime has ruined the country and broken human rights.
IRAQ. Abduction and disappearance: Powerful weapons to intimidate protests activists01/09/2021 - 12:47 On February 22, 2020, at around 8 p.m., the young protester “Muhammad Ali” (a pseudonym) was waiting alone near Kahramana square in central Baghdad, for a taxi to take him to New Baghdad in the south-east of the capital, where he will continue his way home on Palestine Street, but the vehicle he took moved […]
Everything France has given me17/06/2021 - 1:50 Paris, April 29, 2019. It was raining, passers-by were looking for shelter while running. No one noticed a wet bird. I looked at this bird while thinking about myself : the confusion of ignorance, the fear, the anguish provoked by the unknown… I was wondering, Meiirbek, why are you in France ? I kept wondering […]
Exile and Journalism in a Global Pandemic: Voices from the MDJ05/08/2020 - 10:32 After a three month-long state-mandated lockdown, a historian interviewed the staff members and exiled media professionals who respectively work and live at the Maison des Journalistes regarding the impact of the covid19 pandemic on their lives. While the personnel talked about their current preoccupations vis-à-vis asylum applications and press freedom in professional terms, the asylum-seeking […]
Chronicles from Egypt 3/4 – Searching for Justice09/07/2020 - 9:29 Let us go back to the tense moments following Hossam’s disappearance.
Suddenly, his family and friends found themselves into an unprecedented situation that required careful consideration. What were the best steps to take? Which were the most suitable people to reach out? Which organizations could help following his case? Who could be trusted?
Chronicles from Egypt 2/4 – “Systematic torture and abuses in Egyptian prisons”07/04/2020 - 4:01 “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person” the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Art. 3 recites. This appears not to be the case in today’s Egypt, where reinforced security measures have increasingly been constricting Egyptian citizens’ life, liberty and security in the last years. The government’s reaction to the wave […]
Chronicles from Egypt 1/4 – “Not only afraid to talk… Total state of fear un today Egypt”03/03/2020 - 4:39 “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person” the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Art. 3 recites. This appears not to be the case in today’s Egypt, where reinforced security measures have increasingly been constricting Egyptian citizens’ life, liberty and security in the last years. The government’s reaction to the wave […]
New balance from collapse of a weakened Iran04/02/2020 - 11:49 New balance from collapse of a weakened Iran The death of Iran’s terror chief, Major General Qassem Soleimani, the second most important figure of the regime, and Abu Mahdi Mohandis, the central figure of the Iran-backed Hashd al-Sha’abi paramilitary force in Iraq, has brought the strategic edifice of the Iranian regime crumbling down. The Iranian […]
10 journalists and media workers killed in 2019 in Afghanistan22/01/2020 - 11:05 According to NAI – Supporting Open Media in Afghanistan, 10 journalists and media workers killed and 21 injured in 2019. 115 violence cases recorded by NAI against journalists which include: assassination, wound up, beaten up, threats, insult, short-term arrestments, kidnap, attack on media outlets and lack of access to information in 2019 in the country. At the […]
Facebook’s political censorship13/11/2019 - 10:34 Eight whistleblowers prosecuted under the Obama administration: Where are they now? One month before the U.S midterm elections, Facebook deletes over 800 pages and accounts claiming they consistently displayed “spam and coordinated inauthentic behavior.” The 559 politically-oriented pages and 251 accounts were all American. Among the blocked pages are Nation in Distress, Right Wing News, […]
Eight whistleblowers prosecuted under the Obama administration: Where are they now?13/11/2019 - 10:17 Eight whistleblowers prosecuted under the Obama administration: Where are they now? Barack Obama is often criticized for waging a war against whistleblowers, but this may not be the entire truth. During the two terms Obama held office, eight whistleblowers were prosecuted, a number greater than those punished by the law under all U.S. presidential administrations combined. […]
“I need to rebuild myself. But I need to continue my work for Syria.”12/11/2019 - 11:24 At only twenty four years old, the syrian photojournalist, Abdulmonam Eassa, has already witnessed and documented the ruin of his hometown, Hamouria, on the outskirts of the capital, and the carnage of his people.
“I would like you to mention it in the portrait as the “syrian revolution”, it was not a “civil war” or a “movement”, we have to call it as what it was: a revolution.”01/08/2019 - 12:27 Hasan, a detached look in the eyes, a wristband to the colors of the Free Syrian Army, is struggling to remember of any independent journal: “At least, I am certain that there no media covering of what happened in the country.” In February 2011, Hasan is 21, he is living in Douma in the east […]
Afghanistan: another deadly Year for Journalists in 201910/07/2019 - 9:17 Within the first six months of 2019, Afghanistan has lost six of its journalists in separate incidents, the first death of a journalist was recorded by RSF in Afghanistan this year. 35 cases of violence against journalists and media staff were recorded by Nai, supporting open media in Afghanistan which includes 5 cases of murder, […]
“A good journalist is someone who serves his community”18/06/2019 - 1:53 TESTIMONY FROM A MARITUANIAN JOURNALIST “A good journalist is someone who serves his community. Serving others through my journalistic work, that is my vocation.” This is the story of MBG, Marituanian journalist fighting against injustice. “Within me, there is an innate sense of justice. That which scares me the most is neither death nor pain, […]
The New York Time’s Cartoon Suppression Sparks Worry18/06/2019 - 1:39 The news that shook the world’s largest daily newspaper, the New York Times International. After one month of controversy following an image deemed antisemitic, starting July 1st, there will no longer be political cartoons in the newspaper’s opinion section. This decision foreshadows a complicated future for newspaper cartoonists. A single stroke of the pen was […]
Impacts and Revelations from Disclose’s Investigative Journalists Regarding the Sale of French Arms to Saudi Arabia05/06/2019 - 3:25 On Tuesday May 28th at 7:30, there was a conference broadcast over Facebook Live at “Le Grand Bréguet”, a Parisian bar to explain what happened during the explosive investigation “Made in France”. On April 15th, Disclose (a French NGO for investigative journalism) published an investigation that exposed the problem of selling french arms to Saudi […]
The State of the Press in Egypt: a Fallen Champion16/05/2019 - 10:05 Ranked 161st in the World Press Freedom Index 2018 from Reporters Without Borders, contemporary Egypt is characterized by a rapid deterioration in press freedom, subject to severe censorship and draconian state control. Though Egypt is the source of the spread of the printing press in the Arab world, successive governments have progressively limited freedom of […]
