Committee to Protect Journalists - Afghanistan

Afghanistan must uphold its commitment to free press

2012-03-13T18:35:48Z

March 13, 2012

President Hamid Karzai
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
C/o The Embassy of Afghanistan
2341 Wyoming Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20008

Via facsimile: 202-483-6487

Dear President Karzai:

We are deeply concerned by the potential repercussions of a March 10 statement released by Ministry of Defense spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimi over an article written by The Wall Street Journal reporter Maria Abi-Habib. The statement, which personally attacks the journalist, sends a chilling message to other reporters who write about alleged government misconduct. We call on you to publicly address Azimi's statement and ask all government officials to refrain from attacks on journalists. We also ask you to uphold your commitment to a free press in Afghanistan that you have made many times in the past.

Abi-Habib's March 8 article reported on accusations that Afghan Air Force personnel were involved in drug and weapons trafficking while using AAF aircraft. The story cited officials from the International Security Assistance Force openly saying they were investigating misconduct within the AAF. The article also said a separate investigation was being carried out by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The article also quoted several high-ranking Afghan government officials, including AAF spokesman Lt. Col. Mohammed Bahadur and Minister of Defense Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak. But Azimi's statement, released two days later, contained personal attacks on the journalist in a seeming attempt to discredit her:

Miss Maria Habib, a journalist of The Wall Street Journal deals with these matters with ultimate obsession; her untruthful reports are well-known amongst national and international media.

Perhaps even worse, the statement ended on a threatening note:

In reviewing this story by The Wall Street Journal it appears that political groups from different countries pay certain journalists such as Miss Habib who are seeking fame to broadcast such baseless and untruthful reports.

Stating that someone is being paid by "political groups from different countries" is a serious charge, one that puts any reporter in serious danger. The accusation is even more dangerous in a country like Afghanistan, where rule of law is relatively weak and threats, attacks, and murders take place with near-complete impunity.

In addition, these barely veiled threats send a chilling message to all other reporters, local or foreign, who dare to write critically of the government.

As an organization dedicated to the protection of journalists around the world, we urge you to uphold your commitment to a free press in Afghanistan. We call on you to publicly address Azimi's statement and also ask all government officials to refrain from such potentially lethal attacks on local and foreign reporters.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Joel Simon
Executive Director

Radio reporter murdered in Afghanistan

2012-02-23T19:34:41Z

New York, February 23, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Afghan authorities to thoroughly investigate the murder of radio journalist Samid Khan Bahadarzai and swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice.

Attacks on the Press in 2011: Fixers on Front Lines

2012-02-22T04:24:48Z

Local "fixers" have been essential to foreign reporters covering the Afghan war. While they often do the same work as their international counterparts, they run greater risk and face a far more uncertain future. By Monica Campbell

Attacks on the Press in 2011: Journalists Killed

2012-02-21T21:37:14Z

Murders decline, but fatalities rise during coverage of protests. Photographers and freelancers pay an especially high price. Pakistan is the world's most dangerous nation.

Attacks on the Press in 2011: Afghanistan

2012-02-21T05:13:00Z

As NATO and Afghan military forces faced off with militant groups, the news media worked in a hostile and uncertain environment. Two journalists were killed for their work, both during major insurgent attacks. Accusations of widespread fraud marred the second post-Taliban parliamentary elections, which were resolved only by a presidential decree that ousted several apparent winners. International aid organizations continued to pump resources into developing local media, although many Afghan outlets faced severe challenges in sustaining their work. In May, diplomatic missions circulated a memo to international journalists warning of possible kidnappings, though the threat never materialized. Three France 3 television crew members were released in June after 18 months in Taliban captivity. Abductions, which had spiked in 2009 and continued into 2010, appeared to decline during the year. Afghanistan's mass media law, introduced in Parliament in 2003, had yet to be enacted because of a political stalemate. Under discussion were several draft versions, most of which threatened to be more restrictive.

Planners conference must strengthen Afghan media

2011-11-29T22:55:08Z

New York, November 29, 2011--When delegates from more than 100 countries and international aid organizations meet in Bonn on December 5 at an international conference on Afghanistan's future, they must alter their tactics and aim more to support the professionalization and safety training of the country's emerging press corps, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. Though Afghan media outlets have expanded rapidly in the post-Taliban-rule era, journalists need to be better trained and must know how to survive the threats and dangers that are part of their daily lives in order to ensure that the country's fragile democracy has robust media.

Iranian journalist dies in Afghanistan

2011-09-22T20:29:50Z

New York, September 22, 2011--Farhad Taqaddosi, a cameraman for Iran's Press TV, died in a Kabul hospital on Tuesday of injuries he sustained in the Taliban's September 13 attack on prominent international buildings in Kabul, the station reported.

ISAF takes responsibility for Afghan journalist's death

2011-09-08T21:21:52Z

New York, September 8, 2011--The International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said today that one of its soldiers was responsible for the July 28 death of a local journalist working for the BBC Afghanistan service and the Pajhwok Afghan News agency. The ISAF soldier, an American, told authorities that he thought Ahmed Omaid Khpalwak was an insurgent reaching for a bomb under his vest, and shot him dead, an ISAF statement said.

Khpalwak, 25, died in violence between insurgents and security forces when gunmen and suicide bombers targeted the governor's office and police headquarters in Tarin Kot, capital of Uruzgan province in central Afghanistan.

Afghan journalist killed in insurgent attack

2011-07-28T19:23:37Z

New York, July 28, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists mourns the death of Ahmad Omaid Khpalwak, a BBC and Pajhwok Afghan News reporter, in violence between insurgents and security forces in central Afghanistan today.

France 3 television crew released after 547 days

2011-06-29T19:55:21Z

New York, June 29, 2011--Eighteen months after their abduction in Afghanistan, the Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of France 3 television crew members Hervé Ghesquière, Stéphane Taponier, and Reza Din.

French journalists released in Afghanistan

2011-06-29T18:03:01Z

New York, June 29, 2001--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes reports from the French government that journalists Hervé Ghesquière and Stéphane Taponier and their interpreter Reza Din have been released after more than 18 months in captivity. CPJ is seeking further news about the group's fixer and driver, known as Ghulam and Sattar, who were also abducted.

In Afghanistan, religious threat to media intensifies

2011-06-07T21:05:47Z

New York, June 7, 2011--The Committee to Protect journalists is disturbed by the June 1 declaration by Afghanistan's Ulema Shurab, or the Council of Religious Scholars, criticizing two media outlets, Hasht-e-Subh Daily newspaper and Tolo Television, for what it reportedly called "immorality" and "animosity against Islam," according to Afghan media owners. The council is a powerful force in Afghan politics and meets frequently with President Hamid Karzai to advise him on religious and cultural affairs.

Attacks on the Press 2010: Asia Analysis

2011-02-15T05:53:00Z

Partisan Journalism and the Cycle of Repression

by Bob Dietz and Shawn W. Crispin

Lal Wickramatunga's family and publishing house, Leader Publications, have paid dearly in Sri Lanka's highly charged political climate. While Leader's newspapers, including the weekly Sunday Leader, are widely known for tough, independent reporting, they have been caught up in a partisan media environment, one filled with violence and censorship. Wickramatunga's brother has been murdered, his company has been sued, and his journalists face intimidation.

Attacks on the Press 2010: Afghanistan

2011-02-15T05:50:00Z

Top Developments
• Two killed, but press fatalities don't rise in proportion to overall dangers.
• Kidnappings an ongoing hazard; two French journalists held captive.

Key Statistic
13: Foreign journalists killed in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S. invasion.

Journalists faced numerous challenges from a multifaceted war, instances of government censorship, a culture of official corruption, and factionalism within the domestic media. Two journalists were killed and two others were held by kidnappers throughout the year. The Afghanistan NGO Safety Office, an agency funded by the European Union and European governmental aid agencies, said in September that Afghanistan was at its most dangerous level since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. Insecurity reigned even as the NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), raised troop levels, largely through the addition of about 30,000 U.S. forces. By the end of November, the United States had about 90,000 troops in Afghanistan, and ISAF troop levels stood at more than 130,000.

Prominent Afghan reporter attacked with acid

2011-01-19T19:19:45Z

New York, January 19, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is greatly concerned about the acid attack on Afghan journalist and author Razaq Mamoon, which left him disfigured. Local and international media reports say Mamoon was attacked as he was walking outside his apartment in Kabul on Tuesday evening.